What is the Wollongong property market forecast for 2023 and beyond?

Author: Joanne Danckwardt of One Agency JD Property Agents

Around the family dinner table or at drinks with friends, at some point someone will give their Wollongong property market forecast. Having been in the real estate industry for almost 30 years, I’ve seen how trends have emerged over time. There are cycles where the season will be more difficult for buyers, but a great opportunity for sellers. And vice versa.

How do you manage economic changes?

Working as a real estate agent around buyers and sellers every day has proven it’s difficult to predict what will happen with the real estate market tomorrow.

When the property market is booming, as the Wollongong real estate market has been, that can cause you to question when to buy or sell. What if you get the timing wrong? What if you miss a future opportunity? It’s fine to make predictions around the dinner table, but when it comes time to make a commitment, you start to want more surety.

However now that the boom has shifted, market changes can bring uncertainty. What has always remained true is you don’t miss out when you buy and sell in the same market. Ultimately, property has proven to increase in value over time. However, the time frame for any increases can occur within one year, three years, five years or even seven years. So, what should you consider before deciding if you should buy or sell in 2023 or beyond?

What influences the real estate market?

Firstly, let’s consider what factors you need to focus on within the market. The reality is, it’s not just how many buyers or sellers are present in the market.

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was the last major decline in the real estate market. Like COVID, we didn’t see this coming. However, the GFC’s impact on the real estate industry was different to the coronavirus pandemic. The unemployment rate affected the market, as industries and businesses closed down. This, in turn, impacted buyer confidence. This time, there were other factors at play that have created confidence.

Elements that can impact decisions on buying and selling due to financial strains on the family, include:

• interest rate changes
• inflation rates
• economy
• employment rates
• Day-to-day living expenses, like petrol or essential grocery item price increases

All these factors show that it’s difficult to speculate on the market, with so many influences playing a part.

Is now a good time to sell your house?

Typically, Spring is a great time to buy and sell, due to a rise in sales and listings. Spring is the marker for people to ensure they sell before Christmas and can enjoy festivities in their new home.

The same can be said of January and February listings for Easter. Many people believe that selling in winter is not a great time to list their property. But with less homes on the market in winter for sale, listing your home for sale in June or July can be beneficial as a seller, as there is less competition on the market.

If your own personal circumstances dictate that it is now time to consider selling, then that’s the right time for you to be selling. The cost to actually relocate is significant. Therefore, you need to be financially and emotionally committed to the process of securing the best possible buyer in the timeframe you require at a certain point in time.

When there are less properties on the market for sale that are in direct competition with your property, you’ll achieve a better price. If there are not a lot of similar homes on the market at the same time as you, you’ll find there are good quality buyers looking to purchase now.

The past 12 months has seen a decrease in numbers of buyers inspecting properties, but the quality of those buyers is still there. For example, when showing a house to nine people, two of those will put an offer on the house. What about buying an investment property? Now is a good time to purchase an investment property with increased rents and low vacancy rates. Even though interest rates are increasing, therefore the cost to purchase will be more, the rising rents will help to offset this.

When is the right time to buy a property?

For buyers, it’s a more challenging story. If you’re in this boat, you’ve probably been looking at the Wollongong property market forecasts more than most. The thing is, we don’t know what is going to happen in the Wollongong real estate market.

Did you know, as a buyer the average buying journey is approximately six months? And by then, you’re probably over it.

So, how do you navigate this time? My suggestion is to research properties on the market comparing what features a property provides and at what price point. From doing this, you will soon be able to determine if a property is one within your budget and suitable to your lifestyle.

By doing this, hopefully the property you choose will be suitable for a long period of time. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter what is happening in the market today. In fact, over the next 10 years, it won’t matter if you bought at the top of the market, or the bottom of the market. Within that decade, your home is likely to look like you bought it for a bargain.Property will always go up and down in the short term, but in the long term it has always grown. This means if you’re willing to be patient, the real estate market will give back to you. Don’t try to pick the market, but rather pick the house. If you find the house you want, don’t delay. Buy the one that you want.

Making Wollongong property market forecasts irrelevant

These are uncertain times. People who forecast are trying to predict the future, which is impossible. You really only know what is happening with the market one moment at a time.

Speculation is always interesting to review with hindsight. Some will get it right and some will get it wrong, as you can always find opposing views when forecasts are made.

Although the intent is well considered, forecasting is virtually impossible to do accurately within the property market.Even trends have bucked the system. The recovery out of the GFC was a lot faster than anybody predicted due to the resilience of the Australian economy. The COVID predictions were for a crash in the property market. Who would have thought Australians would have been nervous about living within close proximity to each other. Therefore, feeling the need to create more space around themselves and so moved to regional areas. This was supported by the transfer of staff to their homes and creating work stations within the household, which required more space and a bigger footprint.

You can access the latest Wollongong property market updates for Fairy Meadow, Balgownie and Mount Pleasant / Mount Ousley from Joanne Danckwardt of One Agency JD Property Agents in Fairy Meadow from Joanne’s site. Learn more in the video with Joanne Danckwardt as she talks about the current real estate market – CLICK HERE to watch now. 

Joanne Danckwardt is a licensed real estate agent who covers the Fairy Meadow, Balgownie, Mount Ousley and Mount Pleasant areas. Her high degree of personal involvement, means she understands her clients and tailors a process to suit, with all efforts geared to produce exceptional real estate results. Her exceptional market knowledge and excellent negotiation skills means she stays ahead of the curve in the real estate market. Joanne can be contacted on [email protected] or 0426 264 771. To learn how to make the transition for your current home into aged care, register for the free short course HERE.