Property market in Albany experiencing a pandemic boom with surge in buyers from Perth and interstate

From the chaos and consternation of COVID-19, Albany is emerging as a prime piece of real estate for people from Perth and interstate. Albany’s property market is booming and local real estate agents have noticed increased interest from buyers outside of the Great Southern. Ray White Albany general manager Darren Leslie said the rising prices came after a “very flat market” the last 15 years. “This is the first real rise we’ve seen in the last 15 years,” Mr Leslie said. “Approximately, across the board, we’d say the prices have risen by 20 per cent in Albany in the past 12 months.” Mason Realty owner Rob Mason, who is chairman of the Real Estate Institute of WA’s Great Southern branch, said interest from Perth had driven the boom over the last 18 months. “I think there are always lots of people thinking about making changes in their life, and always lots of people in the city thinking ‘I’d really like to live in the country one day’,” Mr Mason said. “I think COVID was the trigger for people to go ‘what am I waiting for, why don’t I just do it now’.” Mr Mason said some buyers were moving to Albany for new jobs, and others valued the slower pace of life in the country. There was also the appeal of being away from a congested capital city in the event of a major COVID outbreak. Wellington and Reeves director Kathleen Mier also reported increased interest from Perth. Ms Mier said she had recently sold “10-15 properties” to people from the Eastern States who had seen their new properties only on video calls. “I had a couple from Tasmania, and one was born here . . . and her husband could work from anywhere,” Ms Mier said. “He works in IT so it doesn’t matter if he’s working in Launceston or he’s working in Albany. “I’ve had people who have never been here but they’ve picked it out on a map and thought it was nice.” Mr Mason said he had also noticed a trend in buyers being more prepared to invest in more expensive properties than in previous years. “Maybe three or four years ago, we were dealing with quite a few buyers that had access to pretty serious funds to buy expensive homes or properties in the Great Southern, but they were very reluctant to because they were worried about investing that amount of money in a property in Albany,” he said. “That has really changed where people are not hesitant at all to spend over a million dollars, and in some cases well above a million dollars, on a single property in the Great Southern.” With the increased interest from across Australia, housing supply was the key issue. “We’ve got a high level of buyers with a lot lower level of stock availability,” Mr Leslie said. Mr Leslie estimated that Albany’s market of established homes was only a quarter of its usual size. That was echoed by Ms Mier, who said the supply and demand ratio had been particularly lopsided for the last six months. “We are getting multiple offers on properties, and a lot of the time multiple offers are above the asking price,” she said. “I do feel that the prices that people are paying are probably a little bit more than what we’ve seen before. “If it’s $400,000, they’re going $440,000.” It is not just the pandemic, however, that has people clamouring to buy in Albany, Mr Leslie said “massive pressure” on Albany’s rental market was forcing some people who would usually rent to buy houses. One rental home open was attended by 60 people and led to 30 rental applications, he said. Additionally, the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder grant announced in 2020 has added pressure to the housing market, with limited supply of blocks. Building companies have been inundated with work and are struggling to take more on, resulting in a lack of supply of new houses on the market. “That is probably not going to change for a number of years. There’s nothing that’s going to suddenly bring on a lot more supply,” Mr Leslie said.