What’s in store for the housing market in 2022?
What’s in store for the housing market in 2022?
Eleanor Creagh
21 Feb 2022
realestate.com.au
After a record-breaking year last year, there’s plenty on the horizon for property markets in 2022.
Strong demand, a constrained supply of properties for sale, and record-low low interest rates combined to make a perfect storm for house price growth in 2021.
But the real driving force was the ongoing reassessment of lifestyle wants and housing needs by Australians, which when combined with the cheap cost of borrowing, allowed many to afford larger mortgages and bigger budgets.
The arrival of the Omicron strain is a timely reminder that despite our best efforts, predicting the year ahead is often an exercise fraught with uncertainty.
Still, we look at what could be some of the big themes that may drive residential real estate in the year ahead.
Commutable regional markets
Still getting out of town
The desire for lifestyle locations close to the beach was a key feature of the property market in 2021.
The remote work boom helped supercharge values in sea and tree change locations, as no longer being tied to the office meant greater choice in terms of where people could live.
Though the pace at which this shift has been felt is likely to ease, well-connected and commutable regions are likely to remain in high demand. For many, working from home remains the norm in 2022. We expect demand for coastal, regional and beachside suburbs to remain high this year.
As remote work trends reduce the need to live so close to the office, some will take advantage of the relatively more affordable housing in regional areas. This is particularly the case for Sydney relative to other regions.
And with the supply of properties available for sale in regional areas remaining constrained, that’s likely to see prices continuing to rise, albeit at a considerably reduced rate.