Why are the super-rich snapping up country and beach houses amid Covid-19? In the UK and Australia, homebuyers are skipping London and Melbourne for Cornwall and northern New South Wales
- People are looking for more space in anticipation of future lockdowns and WFH, but they’re also re-evaluating what’s important to them
- That’s resulted in greater desire for holiday homes and properties that fit the lifestyle trend; demand for £2 million country houses increased, says Savills
Regional property markets across Australia and the United Kingdom are seeing a boom as urbanites re-evaluate their city lives during the pandemic.
According to data from CoreLogic, Australia’s regional housing market has risen 13 per cent in value compared to a 6.4 per cent gain in urban areas across the nation’s capital cities in the last 12 months.
Among 25 of the largest non-capital city markets tracked, the biggest gains were recorded in the northern New South Wales district of Richmond-Tweed, which encompasses the local government areas of Tweed, Lismore, Ballina, Byron and Richmond Valley and Kyogle. House and unit prices here gained 21.9 per cent and 15.5 per cent respectively on annual basis.
On the whole, homes in the mid north coast of New South Wales sold for 23.6 per cent more this year compared to a year ago, and 8.4 per cent above the five-year average for the region.
The second best-performing region was Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, also in New South Wales, where homes and units prices rose by 19.5 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.
With possible lockdowns still in front of mind, people want extra space
Stand-out towns in this region include Bawley Point, where prices rose 29.6 per cent; Colo Vale that saw a rise of 28.9 per cent; Burrawang with a 28.6 per cent increase; Exeter prices were higher by 28.4 per cent; and home prices grew 27.4 per cent in Berrima.
Tim Lawless, research director, CoreLogic, says the faster pace of growth reflects stronger demand in the regional areas of Australia from the start of the pandemic till date.