Rethink Financial Group (Rethink)’s third annual Property Activity Intentions Report has highlighted the popularity of Newcastle. At a recent local property workshop hosted by Rethink, 100% of guests surveyed intend on making a property transaction in the next 12 months and 90% of those transactions are intended purchases. This is up 20% from the last intentions report in 2014.

 

Only 10% of those surveyed plan to sell a property in the next 12 months and of that 10%, most of those sales were to restructure an investment portfolio and to purchase another property. It’s not just Novocastrians that love the city, Rethink’s property workshop guest speaker Will Hosking Co-founder and Director of PMC Property Buyers who works all over the East Coast of Australia explained the reality of the Newcastle market and why Newcastle is a great long-term attraction.

 

“People with equity in Sydney look at Newcastle and go, it’s so cheap! I can get a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, lock-up garage, 400 square meter block and within 8 kilometers of the CBD for $650,000! Compared to some one bedroom apartments in Sydney’s Northern Beaches going for over $1 million, with no parking.”

While Newcastle property prices are at an all-time high of $495,000 (2016 median house price), we are displaying extremely high confidence in our city and property market. Of the intended property purchases in the next 12 months, the majority of these are likely to be investments (83%). Investor activity is up 8% on two years’ ago and 24% on 2013.

 

Another of Rethink’s property workshop guest speakers, Mark Kentwell, Founding Director of PRDnationwide Newcastle and Lake Macquarie believes that Newcastle is only two years into the best 10 years it’s going to experience.

“Not all of that period is going to be growth, but in terms of transformation and lifestyle we’re looking at our best 10 years in my view.”

 

Mark said the reasons the following are some of the reasons that make Newcastle popular:

 

• Economic – The Newcastle property market now has many more drivers, including education, entertainment and industries. We have a massive RAAF base that’s just secured another federal funding injection which is a boost for local defense contractors, Hunter New England Health is the largest employer in our region, the University of Newcastle is now rated among the top 250 universities globally and we still have coal mining, but there is also a rise of many new up- coming industries. Plus, our region has got both lifestyle and geography. We have the Hunter Valley wine industries just up the road and 12-15 of the most beautiful beaches in Australia.”

 

• Diversity - Newcastle has one of the most typical demographic spreads in all of Australia. That’s why major national and global companies actually test their products here in Newcastle first, so they can gauge their performance elsewhere across the country.

 

• Proximity to Sydney - As Sydney becomes more unaffordable people talk about either moving interstate, or Newcastle gets thrown around a lot. The proximity to Sydney means your family in Sydney is only 2 hours away.

 

• Geography – Due to parts of Newcastle being contained to a peninsula it makes our city quite tightly held and difficult for development and oversupply to take place.