Market Update - December 2023
Join Michael Wright and Guests in our final Market Update for 2023.
Here is our wrap up for the year:
Michael Wright:
Hi Michael from Peter Fisher Real Estate with an end of year wrap up for the Orange market. Now two current hot topics, interest rates, and new home building. I’ve got James Noller from Vision Finance and I’ve got Jacob Bowden from GJ Gardner. These two are very active in the Orange market and I’m going to rely on them for some very interesting points and statistics. James, what can you tell me about the current interest rate rises and how’s it impacting the Orange market?
James Noller:
So an interesting fact, that this year we’re actually writing more loans and especially more purchases this time than we were last year as well. So-
Michael Wright:
Even with the higher interest rate rises?
James Noller:
The rates have probably concerned some people, but you’ve got a lot of people that were pushed out of the market in the past 18 months, 24 months, they’ve come forward and they’ve got themselves in a position so they’re ready to purchase. So yes, the rates have risen a little bit, but it’s taken the heat out of the market and it’s allowed them to get in and buy the properties they need to get to.
Michael Wright:
And what schemes are currently available?
James Noller:
So there’s this first home buy low deposit schemes. That’s probably the biggest thing that’s increased for us. This financial year the government’s put in some additional placements for first home buyers, and specifically regional first home buyer low deposit schemes. What that allows people to do is to buy into a property, instead of having a traditional 20% deposit, they can actually come forward with a 5% deposit, allows them as first home buyers to buy a property up to $750,000. They receive stamp duty exemption. They don’t pay lenders mortgage insurance. And they’re only required to have a 5% deposit.
Michael Wright:
Okay, fantastic. Jacob, where are we at with regard to building a home? Costs, are they still going up?
Jacob Bowden:
No. So all of our prices now are quite stable. So we haven’t seen the volatility in the market that we saw this time last year. So in terms of the loans that you are talking about, we can definitely price in at that rate and it is quite stable.
Michael Wright:
Fantastic. And you said to me just before, fixed costs-
Jacob Bowden:
Yes.
Michael Wright:
You’re back to doing fixed costs now.
Jacob Bowden:
So it’s about fixed price quotes now. So what you see is what you get. Once we give you that first quote, that is what you will pay for.
Michael Wright:
Great. Now time frames, because that was one thing that was really blowing out a year or two ago.
Jacob Bowden:
Yes.
Michael Wright:
Where are we at with time frames?
Jacob Bowden:
Yeah, so luckily it’s not raining too much anymore. But we are looking at a 10 to 12 month process. So half of that is going to be your planning, so going through the drafting stage, making sure that the plans are what you want, and then construction. So once we are out of council, we do need to be on site within 20 working days. And from there we’re looking at a 22 to 30 week build time.
Michael Wright:
Okay. So that’s all pretty achievable by the sound of it?
Jacob Bowden:
Absolutely.
Michael Wright:
Fantastic. Now just to give people a bit of an idea, again, we were talking about costs. You were saying to me probably starting from about 350 as a rough cost, to perhaps as a three-bedroom entry point.
Jacob Bowden:
Absolutely, yes.
Michael Wright:
To build a home. And then four-bedroom, as an entry point around about 400,000?
Jacob Bowden:
Around the 400. Now really it does come down to what you’d like to build. We price in based on exactly what you’d like to put in the home. But as a starting point, 350 to 400 is definitely where we would be.
Michael Wright:
Okay. I think that’ll certainly get some interest from people. To give you an example about, for I guess affordable blocks to build on, we’ve got one in Belmore Street Cargo that’s on at 199. That’s 2000 square meters, so it’s a nice big block. And Jacob’s done up a house and land package, that’s a four-bedroom home for that.
Jacob Bowden:
Yes.
Michael Wright:
634,000, 2000 square meters. 634,000. So again, very affordable if you’re looking for space for the kids. If you want something a little bit bigger, we’ve got a one-acre block in Cudal, and the price we’ve got there is about 650,000 for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home. If we are looking at Orange, we’ve got one in Brazier Road and we’re looking at building a really nice three-bedroom home there for up to 650,000. So all very achievable packages. I hope that’s answered a few questions today. We’ll put some phone numbers on this video as well so you can contact those people directly if you wish. But Merry Christmas from everybody here and hope you have a very happy and safe New Year.
Contact James Noller at: https://visionpf.com.au/our-team/orange/
Contact Jacob Bowden at: https://www.gjgardner.com.au/home-builders/new-south-wales/orange
