VIC You snooze you loose - coastal Victoria

I sold my Melbourne property earlier this year and am looking to buy in a coastal town of Vic. The problem is, I have taken my time and in doing so, it seems that the number of listings has significantly reduced. There is not a lot around in the area I am looking at and certainly none that ticks all the boxes. I am worried that if I don't buy quickly, prices will rise more once Melb restrictions relax and competition increases. Competition then might be more, but I guess more home owners may be willing to sell in a market with less restrictions (supply may go up). I can't work out whether to settle for something because prices may go up even more...or just wait until the right one comes along. Any thoughts on near future property prices change in Vic seaside locations?

 

Depends how in demand your location is and whether you are at risk of being priced out.

If you are not picky about location there are and will always be plenty of affordable coastal areas maybe not beachfront but close enough.

If its tightly held like sorrento or flinders for example, you just gotta take what the market gives you.

 

Thanks @Robbo80 . I am kicking myself as there were so many more options a few months ago...I was just taking my sweet time.....

 

I would suggest ignoring any advice that I might give, as I'm consistently wrong...

However, the housing market feels disconnected from the wider economy. You'd expect a significant hit to GDP to be reflected in lower property prices, but they're running at or close to all time highs right now.

The risk in buying now is that property falls in response to the pandemic. Commentary in the press discounts this as a possibility, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely.

The risk in not buying now is that the government successfully stokes another property boom to support the economy. That would make buying in later to be more difficult.

Your choice...

As for available properties, are there any you can reconfigure or redevelop to suit your needs?

 

@Graeme Thanks for your reply. Your comment regarding your advice being consistently wrong made me smile....i imagine the comment is wrong though.

Yes, there are risks in waiting...and also in not waiting....

I think your point about seeing if there is potential to reconfigure a property is something I should consider ....

Thanks again for y our reply.

 

Don't know what the regional/coastal will be like in 12/24 months but right now its the flavour of the month.

For that reason, I would wait. If it continues on its upward trajectory well that's how it goes but based upon HISTORICAL trends, it SHOULD pipe down at some point.

 

No worries. I know how you feel, its just like not going all in when the share market dipped in march or buying more property in 2015

I guess all we can do is make decisions based on what we know now and try not anchor to past prices. It does make sense that prices should be higher now due to rate cuts ( likely another one) and higher rents that some coastal locations may be seeing.

 

@Mauve it probably also depends on whether people moving out of the cities is a long term trend or a short term fashion. We aren't going to know that for another few years.

I do think that the pandemic is going to be an issue for another two or three years, and the recovery at the other side will be slow. So I'm not rushing to make any big bets right now.

 

It’s a very strange, distorted Covid 19 market due to the government’s job keeper program and very low cost of credit, yet unemployment and businesses in a precarious position. More buyers than sellers are pushing prices up.
At the end of the day you buy with the fundamentals that allow you to comfortably service the debt. The higher your debt to value ratio the higher your potential for downside if you pay too much and the market drops.