It’s often said that real estate is a long term game, but in a handful of regional areas around the country, quick property resales have surged.
The proportion of properties listed for sale less than three years after purchase has spiked in many regions outside the capital cities as property owners look to offload homes bought since the start of the pandemic.
An analysis of listings on realestate.com.au shows quick property resales were more common in booming coastal and country regions than in the capitals in the first half of 2023.
In a handful of regional areas, up to a quarter of properties for sale were held for less than three years, well above typical levels.
The data appears to show that some property owners have taken advantage of the strength of regional markets to realise gains made over the past few years, according to PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore.
“The areas where we’ve seen more than typical short turnaround listings are the areas where prices have held up pretty well,” he said.
“People in these areas have seen prices grow faster than they’ve expected. That’s giving them substantial equity gains and enabling them to upgrade sooner than they might otherwise have planned.”
Resales surge in booming Queensland markets
Short turnaround listings were most common in Queensland, especially in coastal areas.
“Regional Queensland prices are up enormously compared to pre-pandemic,” Mr Moore said.
“These are some of the best performing regions – certainly areas where prices have done better than is typical across the rest of the country.”
Quick property resales have increased in parts of regional Queensland where prices have surged, such as Cairns (pictured), Wide Bay and Mackay – Isaac – Whitsunday SA4 regions. Picture: Getty
About 28% of listings in the Wide Bay region, which includes Hervey Bay, Bundaberg and Maryborough, were bought less than three years ago, up from a typical 18%.
The region boasts the nation’s best property market performance in the past few years, with prices increasing a whopping 70% since the start of the pandemic.
Queensland regions where quick resales increased the most
SA4 Region | Proportion of short-turnaround listings (H1 2023) | Increase relative to a typical month | Median home value | Price growth since March 2020 |
Wide Bay | 28.10% | 9.6ppt | $502,000 | 69.55% |
Cairns | 24.40% | 8.8ppt | $480,000 | 41.42% |
Mackay – Isaac – Whitsunday | 19.50% | 8.1ppt | $426,000 | 37.17% |
Ipswich | 22.30% | 7.8ppt | $559,000 | 55.80% |
Toowoomba | 22.50% | 7.7ppt | $530,000 | 47.95% |
Central Queensland | 19.10% | 7.1ppt | $394,000 | 35.76% |
Logan – Beaudesert | 19.90% | 6.0ppt | $609,000 | 54.13% |
Darling Downs – Maranoa | 18.80% | 6.0ppt | $366,000 | 42.20% |
Townsville | 16.10% | 6.0ppt | $390,000 | 25.18% |
Gold Coast | 24.60% | 5.1ppt | $840,000 | 58.95% |
Real estate agent Eli Winger of Ray White Hervey Bay said market conditions were ideal for owners to capitalise on the growth in values following the pandemic boom.
“We’ve started to notice a few of our properties in the last couple of weeks have been purchased recently,” he said. “A lot of people have renovated and upsized and are staying in the area.
“Some are investors selling their assets for $100,000 to $200,000 more than what they paid initially.”
This four-bedroom home in Scarness in Queensland’s Wide Bay region recently sold for $610,000, less than three years after it was purchased for $390,000. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Other recent vendors were selling properties that no longer suited their needs, Mr Winger said.
“During Covid a lot of people bought out of panic. Days on market were so low, and every property coming to market would sell quickly. Maybe it was only ticking five boxes out of 10, but they were happy.”
Is tree change regret driving the resale trend?
In Cairns — where home values are more than 40% higher to pre-pandemic levels — about a quarter of properties listed in the first half of 2023 were held for less than three years.
Cairns real estate agent Karl Latham of Twomey Schriber Property Group said multiple factors had driven buyers to sell soon after purchase.
“We’ve had interstate buyers who bought sight unseen wanting to get out of metro areas, looking for greener pastures and fresh air during the pandemic.
“A lot of people who came up from Melbourne, they’d sell a property for $1 million or $1.2 million, and come up here and see a better home for $600,000. Some people bought two.
“But when Melbourne opened back up and cafes and restaurants reopened, a lot of them decided to go back to the city.
“Because prices kept going up, they could sell and actually made money during the process.”
This five-bedroom home in Redlynch near Cairns, purchased in June 2020 for $540,000, recently sold for $725,000, earning the vendor $185,000 in about three years. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Some buyers from the capitals couldn’t adapt to life in a small regional city, while others weren’t prepared for the weather, Mr Latham said.
“When they bought they’d never been through a far north Queensland summer. After one summer they thought, ‘this is too hot, it’s too humid.'”
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In the past 12 months however, rising interest rates have prompted some owners to sell, especially those with larger mortgages, Mr Latham said.
“It’s changed our tactics in regard to prospecting as well. Tenure periods used to be around the seven to 10 year mark, but we noticed that was rapidly shortening.
“Now, we’re calling all our buyers that have bought in the past year, or two to three years, and we’re finding much better strike rates.”
NSW regions where quick resales increased the most
SA4 Region | Proportion of short-turnaround listings (H1 2023) | Increase relative to a typical month | Median home value | Price growth since March 2020 |
New England and North West | 21.80% | 6.4ppt | $418,000 | 48.93% |
Murray | 22.10% | 5.5ppt | $468,000 | 57.86% |
Riverina | 20.30% | 3.5ppt | $479000 | 54.59% |
Sydney – Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury | 13.10% | 3.4ppt | $1,698,000 | 41.24% |
Hunter Valley excl. Newcastle | 18.10% | 3.3ppt | $648,000 | 51.87% |
Far West and Orana | 17.90% | 3.0ppt | $453,000 | 45.05% |
Sydney – Outer South West | 15.90% | 2.9ppt | $863,000 | 36.32% |
Sydney – Eastern Suburbs | 14.00% | 2.6ppt | $1,550,000 | 24.36% |
Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven | 17.10% | 2.5ppt | $845,000 | 52.89% |
Sydney – Blacktown | 12.80% | 2.5ppt | $940,000 | 38.92% |
While a rise in short turnaround listings in regional areas could suggest a reversal of the pandemic-era tree change trend, Mr Moore said this is only part of the equation.
“Some of this probably is people who moved to the regions during the pandemic looking to sell and move back to the capital cities,” he said. “[But] we’re not seeing widespread evidence of an exodus from the regions.”
Although rising interest rates and higher mortgage repayments may have prompted some owners to sell, Mr Moore said short-term owners were more likely motivated by price growth than mortgage stress.
“Areas where prices are holding up have seen the biggest increases [in quick resales]. It points to this not being due to people being in stress.”
South Australian sellers cash in on price growth
Quick resales lifted in all areas of South Australia, with the biggest increases in the Barossa, Yorke and Mid North, and South East regions, where prices rose 46% and 54% respectively since the beginning of the pandemic.
Most areas of Adelaide had a bigger increase in short turnaround listings than other capitals, and these areas also experienced very strong growth since March 2020.
Property owners in regional South Australia enjoyed the nation’s best price growth in the past 12 months, and Adelaide has been the strongest performing capital city since the start of the pandemic.
With prices reaching record highs, sellers have been in a strong position to take advantage of price growth in recent months.
South Australia regions where quick resales increased the most
SA4 Region | Proportion of short-turnaround listings (H1 2023) | Increase relative to a typical month | Median home value | Price growth since March 2020 |
Barossa – Yorke – Mid North | 16.00% | 5.6ppt | 382000 | 46.38% |
South Australia – South East | 17.30% | 4.8ppt | 434000 | 54.45% |
Adelaide – North | 14.70% | 4.5ppt | 566000 | 56.85% |
South Australia – Outback | 12.30% | 3.3ppt | 308000 | 31.02% |
Adelaide – South | 12.80% | 3.1ppt | 694000 | 55.38% |
Adelaide – Central and Hills | 14.70% | 3.0ppt | 833000 | 41.46% |
Adelaide – West | 12.90% | 1.4ppt | 729000 | 44.94% |
Western Australia’s Mandurah, Bunbury and Wheat Belt regions all had significant increases in short turnaround listings in the first half of the year, as well as strong price growth since the beginning of the pandemic.
Tasmania’s West and Northwest region delivered some of the best price growth in the country since March 2020, and had more quick resales than the rest of the state.
Investors exit softening rental markets amid interest rate squeeze
In the New England and North West region of NSW, about 22% of listings were owned for less than three years, up from the typical 15%. Prices in the region increased by about 49% since the start of the pandemic.
Laing + Simmons Armidale director Lachie Sewell said changes in the local rental market were driving the quick resale trend in the area.
“It’s all coming down to the investors from out of town that invested pre-November last year,” he said.
“We’ve slowly seen vacancy rates creep up and rental prices drop a little bit, and the pressure from rising interest rates has triggered people to sell.”
This Armidale home, purchased in November 2020 for $315,000, was leased for two years before being sold for $455,000, growing in value by 44% in less than three years. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
The vacancy rate in regional NSW rose from less than 1% a year and a half ago to 1.7% in the June 2023 quarter, while rents were flat, easing some of the pressure for renters and bringing rental yields down a little.
The Murray, Riverina and Hunter Valley regions also had an increase in short turnaround listings, with smaller rises in the Far West and Orana, Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, and Central West regions.
Meanwhile, the Sydney regions that had the biggest increases in quick resales — Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury, Blacktown and the outer south west — were also the city’s best performing regions, with growth outpacing the rest of the city.
Modest lift in resales in regional Victoria
Most Victorian regions saw a slight increase in the proportion of short turnaround listings, led by Shepparton, Geelong, North West, Latrobe – Gippsland and Bendigo.
Price rises in these areas of regional Victoria have outpaced that of Melbourne since the beginning of the pandemic.
Victoria regions where quick resales increased the most
SA4 Region | Proportion of short-turnaround listings (H1 2023) | Increase relative to a typical month | Median home value | Price growth since March 2020 |
Shepparton | 18.80% | 3.0ppt | $468,000 | 48.94% |
Geelong | 16.00% | 2.3ppt | $756,000 | 29.14% |
North West | 19.20% | 2.0ppt | $379,000 | 48.21% |
Latrobe – Gippsland | 19.90% | 1.9ppt | $569,000 | 50.41% |
Bendigo | 15.70% | 1.4ppt | $587,000 | 42.72% |
Melbourne – West | 14.90% | 1.3ppt | $681,000 | 13.53% |
Hume | 17.20% | 0.6ppt | $559,000 | 48.73% |
Melbourne – South East | 13.30% | 0.6ppt | $773,000 | 19.87% |
Warrnambool and South West | 16.50% | 0.5ppt | $527,000 | 52.00% |
Melbourne – North East | 12.10% | 0.4ppt | $792,000 | 15.89% |
In Melbourne, where the property market recovery has lagged other capitals, few regions had an increase in quick resales and most areas had less short turnaround listings in 2023 than is typical.
This striking modern home in Elwood, sold a year ago by AFL star Scott Pendlebury for $6.5 million, has been listed for sale again with similar price hopes by Michael Ebeling of RT Edgar. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy