The Current Orange Market: A Q&A with Hunter Ridley

Recently some questions were asked of Hunter during an interview for a news story, with regard to the current state of the Orange market in this time of Covid-19 and everything that’s happening around it. A lot of the interview didn’t make it to air but there were some really great things discussed during it that we wanted to share.

We hope these questions and their answers will give you an insight into the current state of play in our town. Of course, these answers are Hunter’s thoughts and opinion on the matters raised but also, they are answered with Hunter’s long-standing knowledge and experience of the Orange market behind them.

Question:

It’s strange times for everyone. No one really knows how long this is going to last or anything like that, but for the people who are looking at buying a property or moving house perhaps, do you have any advice for them given the current climate and the economic standpoint we’re at right now?

Hunter Ridley:

The Orange market, at the moment, seems to be still bubbling along okay. There are definitely less people looking, but the ones who are looking are more serious buyers and prepared to buy and have all their requirements in place to be able to buy a property.

For instance, just looking at our numbers for this last four weeks compared to four weeks last year, we’re actually a little bit up on last year in terms of properties sold. It’s early days, but at the moment, things are bubbling along in a relatively normal fashion. And most agents, I think the good agents, are out there still working, obviously doing it differently, providing a service differently, but it’s been well accepted in the market by most people.

In terms of values, well, time will tell. At the moment, we are not seeing ridiculous offers coming in, no doubt that’ll happen, but there is also people there prepared to buy, who need to buy, there are people who need to sell, so there will still be a market and that’ll continue.

Question:

And if someone’s on the fence about making an offer, is there any sense giving advice maybe just to hold off in case prices drop down or is it just too hard to actually make that call yet?

Hunter Ridley:

Well, you’re probably asking the wrong person. As an agent, we’re going to get the best price we can for a vendor. The thing about real estate, and it’s a time old saying that you should try and buy and sell in the same market. So, if you need to sell a house and buy a bigger house or a smaller house, then if you do it in the same market, then generally speaking, you should be okay. But if you’re looking for bargains, well, every market has had bargains in the past. I don’t see Orange as being a town that’s going to be suffering in terms of prices.

What I do see is, when these restrictions are relaxed and people can start traveling, Orange is going to be hit with a tsunami of travellers; people wanting to visit Orange, to stay at Orange, enjoy Orange, and there’ll be a lot of people who will decide, given the technology now, they can work from Orange. So, I really expect the market in Orange to just go very, very strongly once the restrictions are relaxed.

Question:

So dumb question* from a sports person who knows nothing about houses. When people come out and they do visit and everything else, does that make housing prices go up because there’s more interest out here or what sort of effect does it have, on the prices out here?

*there is no such thing as a dumb question!

Hunter Ridley:

Well, it’ll depend on the supply as well. I think there’ll be less people looking to sell at the moment. Come the period when they decide they think more people are coming here, well, more properties will come on the market. There’s certainly still a lot of construction going on, so there’ll be some houses there that’ll be offered for investors or owner-occupiers.

So look, the demand will definitely go up. I think it’ll go up very, very strongly. There’ll be a bit of pent up demand; people will be holding back until they’re certain about their employment future or whether they can move to a place like Orange, for instance, but we are still getting good inquiry from investors and owner-occupiers.

There’s still a lot of people in employment here. Sadly, there are quite a few that aren’t, but the local economy has a really great, diverse industrial spread as you know, and a lot of those people have very, very safe work, I would have thought, of job prospects.

Question:

Absolutely. And of your current renters, the clients, if I call them that, have many come to you saying, “I have lost my job. What can we do?” Have you had that discussion with many people yet?

Hunter Ridley:

Yeah, sure. So, we have quite a large rent roll, where we manage nearly 600 residential properties. Of those in the last month, less than 1% have asked for some consideration by the owners, and in those cases, the owners, we’ve come to an arrangement which has worked for both of them. So at this stage, yes we’ve seen a slight increase in people requesting a rent adjustment for the time being, and they’re from people who in the past have always been solid with their rent. So there is a small percentage, but at this stage, it’s well under 1% of people. But again, time will tell.

Question:

I think that’s everything I was going to ask you. Anything you wanted to add or mention or happy with that?

Hunter Ridley:

Well, I just think you just needs to point out that Orange, it really will just burst out of its seams when this is all over. People aren’t going to travel overseas. They’re going to flock to regional areas, particularly attractive, prosperous, regional areas like Orange.

Question:

Well said. Love it. Thank you, Hunter.

Yes, well said Hunter! If you would like to know more about the current rental or sale market generally or how it relates to you as a property owner or tenant as we navigate through circumstances that seem to be changing daily sometimes, please don’t hesitate to give our team a call. We are all still here and working hard for you as we adapt to the frequently changing conditions. We do love a challenge!

Watch news story that went to air on 15 April 2020 here: Prime News 7 Story