Kariong has been included in a list of the state’s top 20 investment-grade suburbs where buyers have a negotiating advantage over vendors.
New research commissioned by Well Money (formerly known as Well Home Loans) began by considering every suburb in NSW, before filtering out suburbs: that weren’t investment-grade; where demand had not been falling; and where prices had not increased by at least 45 per cent over the past decade.
That left a small list of investment-grade suburbs where conditions are favourable to buyers and where investors know they have plenty of bargaining power – because even if they offered a 10 per cent discount, vendors would still be giving up only a fraction of the profits they’d made in the previous decade.
Kariong came in at number four, the only Central Coast suburb to make the list.
Well Money CEO Scott Spencer said the ranking was designed to help investors who wanted to buy in quality locations and hold a negotiating edge over vendors.
“Buyers hold a negotiating advantage in each of these suburbs right now, because vendors have enjoyed capital growth of at least 45 per cent over the past decade,” he said.
“Another reason why buyers have the edge in these suburbs is because market conditions have been turning in their favour, as demand relative to supply has been falling.”
Spencer said the suburbs in this report are quality, investment-grade locations.
“All of them have low inventory levels, which will put upward pressure on price growth, and low vacancy rates, which will put upward pressure on rental growth,” he said.
“So the data suggests that investors would be more likely than not to enjoy positive returns.”
But Spencer urged investors to be prudent with their finances.
“Interest rates have been rising and will probably increase even further in the first half of 2023, so investors need to budget for higher repayments,” he said.
“It’s risky to enter the market if you don’t believe you’d have the capacity to cope with higher interest rates.”
The median asking price for homes at Kariong at December 2022 was $952,750.
Source: Media release, Jan 15, 2023, Well Money