Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's The Real Estate Podcast, brought to you by Ray White, the largest real estate and property group in Australasia. And welcome to another episode of The Real Estate Podcast, available on iHeartRadio, also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. And it's a Friday morning. The weekend is just around the corner.
Coming up this morning, we're going to be having a look at the Sydney Northern Beaches, a highly desirable property strip.
Chapter 2: What makes the Northern Beaches of Sydney a desirable location?
What has been going on with the property prices there and are there any pockets of areas still competitively priced? We'll find that out.
Firstly, though, let's have a look at the main centre forecast with propertybuyer.com.au for Friday, the 25th of March, and in Sydney expecting showers today with a high of 23 degrees, Melbourne expecting a partly cloudy day with 21, Brisbane expect a shower or two with 29, and it's going to be a hot one in Perth with 36 degrees.
And this morning we're going to have a look at what is happening on the northern beaches of Sydney which contain, let's face it, some of the most stunning beaches Australia has to offer with a lifestyle to match. Including the iconic Manly Beach in the south to Palm Beach in the north.
and it stretches to Killarney Heights and Forestville in the west, and then tracks northward to semi-rural areas around Terry Hills, Ingleside, and large tracks of bushland in Garragal National Park. The area really does contain some of the most expensive real estate in Australia and saw a dramatic increase in demand during COVID.
Well, joining us on the podcast to further break down what is happening. is Rich Harvey, CEO and founder of propertybuyer.com.au and Matt Corbett, Principal Buyer's Agent on the Northern Beaches. G'day fellas, good to have you both on the morning podcast. Perhaps I can start with you, Matt. You've been operating as a buyer's agent on the Northern Beaches for 15 years now.
What attracts home buyers and investors to the northern beaches, do you think? Are there any standout attributes pulling people into the area? Yeah, thanks, Craig. Look, the biggest drawcard for the northern beaches, as you mentioned in your intro, is the lifestyle.
But as you said, we have some of the finest beaches in the country, along with access to some of the most beautiful waterways, I'd argue, anywhere in the world. There's very few places I know where you can go for an early morning swim or surf and then go for a hike in a national park and all before lunchtime.
Mountain bike trails at places like Manly Dam, Cherry Hills, Narrabeen, just to name a few. But on top of this, you've got some excellent tennis facilities. In fact, Collaroy Tennis Centre was recently voted the number one tennis club in the country and some of the finest golf courses as well. And I have to mention, you know, the Pittwater Waterway, in my opinion, is second to none.
In fact, we have some of the guys that have done the Sydney to Hobart and one actually now reside up there and just a wonderful boating waterway. But it's not all about leisure. The Northern Beaches is serviced by an express buses with the B line now through to the city and also ferries down from Manly.
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Chapter 3: How have property prices in the Northern Beaches changed recently?
We have some good shopping hubs. Roonga Mall is at one stage, if not now, it's still the largest outdoor shopping centre in the country. And also some excellent schools, cafes, restaurants. So, you know, we've got all that, but it's just a fantastic place to raise a family in a very safe environment. It's also the people, like the environment is fantastic, very relaxed, very professional.
It's just a really great environment to raise a family. And Matt mentioned boating. You know, for me personally, one of the things I love doing with my family is we go water skiing down at Akuna Bay. You feel like you're a million miles from nowhere and yet it's 25 minutes from home.
So you've got everything at your doorstep and yet you can be in the city in 20, 25 minutes from certain suburbs on the northern beaches. So all in all, Craig, it's just fantastic lifestyle. You've got to say complimentary things. I mean, these are your neighbours, Rich. Yeah, exactly.
Hey, so perhaps going beyond the last 12 months there, Matt, what's been happening on the northern beaches over the last three years? I guess, you know, three years ago, the market was just tracking steadily. It wasn't doing anything dramatic, but that's been the case of the Northern Beaches for as long as I've known. It'll just pretty much trend up, you know, just gently but continually growing.
But the last 18 months, you know, we saw such a dramatic increase in property prices. 2021 recorded around 35% growth in houses on the Northern Beaches, which is something we've never seen before.
As a buyer's agent, I saw a huge influx of out-of-area buyers from places such as the North Shore, the eastern suburbs, and also quite a few from overseas that were looking to purchase homes, particularly in the northern end of the northern beaches. I think with COVID restrictions, I believe many of them saw themselves working from home forever.
And we're better than the house within walking distance to a beach or park. But I think much of the growth was a result of these buyers realising the excellent value in the market that has traditionally lagged behind prices of places such as the eastern suburbs and the North Shore. I think these out-of-area buyers actually re-educated us locals on property value.
If you do have a look at other areas of Sydney, you'd be amazed at the prices you have to pay for a similar property in those areas. And I think those people coming to the northern beaches for the lifestyle and that saw the value. And I think that was a massive contributor to the increase we had. I believe things have settled down now a bit and we seem to be approaching a more normalised market.
I'd also add in just in terms of COVID and working from home, a lot of the sort of top suburbs up the further northern beaches like Bilgola and Palm Beach seem to be too far and people would often move up there and try to commute to the city and get sick of the commute.
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Chapter 4: What lifestyle benefits attract buyers to the Northern Beaches?
Literally Bilgola bends would drive them around the bend but with COVID and working from home suddenly the upper northern beaches became just even more in demand And so we saw prices skyrocket in places like Avalon. It was just unbelievable. Just the, you know, you do auctions there and just seeing it fly away, right, Matt?
Yeah, I remember one property in particular, a client of ours bought for 1.8 in Avalon. 12 months later, they actually moved to Queensland and they sold it. They did nothing to it. And they sold it for 2.9 in 12 months. And that was just an indication of what was happening. For a long time, when we have clients coming to us looking to buy on the northern beaches,
We had to suggest areas like Newport and Avalon for that simple reason, for affordability. And you're talking about out-of-suburb buyers that are coming in and re-educating you. A lot of experience coming through there. 15 years on the ground as a buyer's agent, but you've been there 50 years, so you've probably been there a lot longer than Rich, so more experience, eh?
Yeah, look, I think Rich spent the first part of his life in the North Shore, so not too far away.
Chapter 5: What types of properties are commonly found in the Northern Beaches?
I started investing 25 years ago, and then obviously I come over as a buyer's agent 15 years ago. And can you describe the predominant types of properties that are found on the northern beaches? Yeah, look, the majority of the northern beaches is made up of houses on residential blocks that would range from, say, 300 to, say, 900 square metres.
There are some blocks significantly larger, including the acreages in areas such as Bayview Heights, Ingleside, Eleanora Heights, Terry Hills and Duffy's Forest, where, you know, there's five and 10 acre blocks up there. But, yeah, standard size, that's sort of, you know, around that sort of six to 700 is a standard size block for a house.
The median prices, look, they vary, but, you know, you're looking at around early fours, four millions in Manly. so around 3.3 in Collaroy. French's Forest has a median price now of around $2 million. That said, $2 million doesn't buy you that much. You've probably got to be closer to the $2.5 to buy anything reasonable.
The five acre blocks in Duffy's Forest, you're looking at a median price up there of $7 million. So there's a large amount of apartments in particular pockets that they primarily stretch on the coastal suburbs apartment blocks. So, you know, all the way from Manly up to Newport. As you go further north, it thins out in terms of apartments.
But, you know, the majority of these would be two-bedders, certainly some three and some one, but the majority two-bedders. Median prices from apartment would be $1.9 million in Manly and 1.15 in Newport. And in DY, just under the 1 million mark currently. Townhouses are less common, but they are more prevalent in suburbs such as DY, Worrywood and Mona Vale.
To give you an idea, you can pick up a nice neat three bedroom townhouse in Worrywood for around the 1.65 to 1.7, but you can expect to pay mid twos for a similar property in Mona Vale. The other thing I'd just say to that, Matt, is the prices have had to be reset in terms of expectations of buyers. Last year, what you were getting for 1.8, say, in French's Forest is now 2.4 to 2.6.
What you were spending at 2.8 in Collaroy is now almost 3.5.
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Chapter 6: What are the median property prices in the Northern Beaches?
So there's a whole range of expectations that need to be set. So I think any buyer that wants to come into the Northern Beaches has to have a decent budget and be realistic, but there's still some really nice, what we call relatively affordable pockets, as Matt said, and that's something that we can buy. And where are the buyers coming from? That's the next point.
Are they locals upgrading or are they coming from other parts of Sydney? Yeah, look, it's a bit of a mix.
I mean, we've certainly seen many locals upgrading, but the largest percentage has certainly come from out-of-area buyers, the eastern suburbs, North Shore, and even some from the inner west who are just seeking that lifestyle, working from home, where a home office has become one of the key points on their wish list.
And these buyers have seen exceptional value in comparison to where they come from and I'd like to give an example. I had a client late last year who traded their semi in North Bondi. They sold it for around six and a half. They traded that for a waterfront in Newport and ended up with more than a million in their pocket.
I had a phone call from her recently just saying that the kids actually kayak over to school, which is lovely. It's lovely when you hear from clients. Yeah, I've had a similar situation too, Craig. I had a client that was sold in Willoughby for about four, four and a half million.
And they just come across the Roseville Bridge to Kalani Heights and they picked up a property early threes, you know, 3.1, 3.3. So just travelling, you know, five minutes across the Roseville Bridge, across Middle Harbour, you can suddenly get relatively incredible value. It's interesting, isn't it?
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Chapter 7: Where are the buyers coming from in the Northern Beaches market?
Because it's not what you would call downgrading, but you have the ability to throw a million dollars, perhaps as that example, into your bank account, but it's not really seen as downgrading at all. No, that's right, no. I remember a few years ago, I went to an auction. One of our colleagues was overseas at the time and I had to represent her client at an auction in the inner west.
And at that time, I was quite... as to the money we had to pay over there. And at the time, I was thinking you could get something within a 500-metre walk to Freshwater Beach for similar money, and that was in the inner west. But, you know, I think every market's different, not suitable to everyone. But the thing about the northern beaches is people that don't know about it don't know about it.
And I think once people get a taste, they're not going to leave, Matt, because that's why they call it the insular peninsula, right? That's right. They're there for a while, yeah. What about the market looking ahead, say, for the rest of 2022 and beyond? Yeah, look, things have certainly settled. I expect a more traditional growth cycle over the next few years.
There's always a time period when the vendors will be chasing the record prices they've seen late last year. So I actually think the selling agents will have to work a lot harder than they have in the past 18 months to condition their vendors. But for this reason, I'd still expect to see some mixed results for the vendors.
It's probably even more crucial than ever that the buyers know their values and don't just contribute to any large vendor success. And people looking for best buyers always are. Are there any pockets left of value that are still in this market? Yeah, it's great. The thing is, the Northern Beaches still offers good value.
Even though we've had this huge price increase, it still offers good value in comparison to other areas around Sydney. It just might not seem that way to the majority of locals. If you venture out to other areas, you'll be pleasantly surprised what your dollar buys.
But in terms of value in comparison to other suburbs in the Northern Beaches, there's good value for money in houses in areas like Eleanora Heights. Wheeler Heights, those fringe suburbs of Collaroy Plateau. Newport has certainly come back a little. Manly Vale and, of course, you know, Belrose and Davidson. You know, we've had a new upgrade to the shopping centre up there.
You've got the theatre, the playing fields up there. That area is just thriving now for young families. I actually grew up in that area. For a long time, that was an area that was an older generation, but the amount of renovations and that that we've seen in the area, which coincide with the new shopping centre, it all raises now a family area.
I think the only thing I'd say there is that the demographic is getting older in a lot of those areas and a lot of older folk in their 70s and 80s are going to be looking to downsize really in the next five to 10 years quite dramatically. And that's why the French's Forest Town Centre will be a critical part in that sort of downsizes moving into apartments close to the hospital and the shops.
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