Selling Houses expert Andrew Winter shares trends to watch in 2024's real estate market
Here's how you can get one step ahead in the real estate game!
- by
Andrew Winter
While it’s almost impossible to predict the next hot spot, boom or bust areas when it comes to real estate, one thing I can guarantee for 2024 is that the housing market often moves in opposite directions to what’s expected.
Not only will we see city and state variations, but idiosyncrasies within suburbs and regions. So, what real estate trends do I expect to emerge or continue?
WATCH NOW: Selling Houses Australia Greystaynes home. Article begins after video.
Premium Prices
Place close attention to the agency fees! These fees are almost always percentage based on the sale price. In recent years, many homes nationally added anything from 25-50 percent and more to their value. Has your salary increased that much, allowing for inflation?
Take the NSW city of Newcastle. Median house prices were $625,000 in January 2021 and they’re now $850,000. Your friendly local agent’s fee at just two percent was $12,500. The same job three years later is now $17,000 – that’s a huge 36 percent gain.
In booming inner-city Perth, the median house price three years ago was $ 2 million, and it’s now $3.1 million. The lucky agency fees have risen from (based on 2 percent) $40,000 to $62,000 – a whopping 55 percent gain. In 2024, sellers of median-priced homes may be expected to pay fees of $40,000 to $50,000 and more.
I want to see more sensible fee structures. We ALL need to be negotiating.
Do your research when selling your home.
Getty
New or Never
Turnkey homes will continue to be popular in 2024. New, fully renovated, and ready to move into – the buyer demand for this type of housing stock is still likely to be a constant for 2024.
While material costs seem to have levelled off through the construction industry, labour costs, and actually securing labour and contractors is still a challenge that many home buyers will not want. Paying full price or top dollar for a home needing no renovations can be an easier and safer purchase.
Turnkey properties with little renovation requirements are popular.
Getty
Master the Mortgage
Mortgage chasing, general inflation, and the cost of living are likely to be a hot topic again in 2024.
This means it’s more important than ever to ensure your home loan is the best deal for you rather than sitting back and ignoring it.
Homeowners in 2024 will be motivated to shop around, speaking to their lenders and using comparison sites. The difference between doing this and ignoring it could mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars saved each year.
There's a trend towards parent support into the property market
Getty
The Parental Payout
The Bank of Mum and Dad is already popular, and that’s likely to continue this year.
It’s becoming quite a real estate buying force – Millennials and Gen Z, unlike previous generations, often have property rich parents.
This is certainly enough to release a deposit, with some parents actually buying homes for their kids to reside in or rent.
Kids get a home and parents get a long-term investment – it’s a growing sector.