LJ Hooker Taree real estate agent says local property market is still 'really good'

While right now it's not the huge boom of the previous years created by the advent of COVID-19, real estate is still moving in some price ranges.

First home buyers and investors are still snapping up properties up to $500,000, as repayments are relatively affordable.

"The ones in the bottom end of the ranges, they've held their value better, I would say because there's still quite a bit of competition in that under $500,000 range," Justin says.

At the top end of the market, people who can afford a $2 million property, are in a better position to be able to to afford repayments.

A 10 acre property at Failford garnered a lot of genuine interest and sold for $2 million.

"They're not going to worry about a 0.25 per cent interest rate increase," Justin says.

It's homes in towns in the $600,000 to $800,000 range where the market has slowed down the most.

"A lot of people are knuckling down, either not selling, or if they're looking in that range, their borrowing capacities have shrunk by about 30 per cent, so they just can't borrow those amounts anymore," Justin says.

The COVID-related real estate boom saw prices grow on average 48 per cent during the years from 2020 to 2022.

Along with the hike in prices, property was particularly hard to come by as it was selling so quickly.

"At one stage the average days on market was seven. So we were selling every property within a week," Justin said.

Now, he estimates the market has slowed to a more reasonable five to eight per cent growth, with properties remaining on the market on average around 60 days.

However, the bottom and top end of the markets are moving more quickly, averaging around 35 days on the market, Justin estimates.

"For a regional market it is still really, really good," he says.

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