
As we momentarily stop to gather our thoughts, and reflect on the year that will be etched in our memories forever, a sense of nervous relief and gratitude washes over many of us. We’ve been through the highs and lows of a roller coaster 12 months. Some have fared better than others, but some have lost loved ones and others have had businesses devastated or careers turned upside down. Our human spirit has continued to shine on through strength and resilience, community solidarity and an optimism that we’ve been through tough times together and have made it out the other side. Cautious that we could just as easily slip back in to where we’ve been.
There has been a monumental shift in mindset from keeping up with the Joneses, to placing more emphasis on family, lifestyle and work-life balance. This in turn has made the Mornington Peninsula one of the most desired parts of Australia to live. No longer is the 1-1.5hr commute seen as prohibitive for city workers now that the full time office desk role is less of a requirement. The mixture of country and coast, affordability, space and lifestyle, yet still being able to retain city jobs, has driven a huge surge in sea change buyers.
The other huge shift has been the demand for holiday homes since overseas travel has been temporarily suspended. The ability to generate short term rental income through airbnb and stayz, while also having personal use, coupled with the lowest interest rates in history, has made the prospect of holidays on the Mornington Peninsula even more attractive than usual.
The only problem with an increased number of buyers, is that there needs to be enough supply of homes for sale to keep the market in equilibrium. Without enough supply, the only outcome is price rises between competing buyers. Local home owners are simply not selling unless they need to, because summer is the best time of year to use the holiday house or rent it out. The year-on-year demand in Victoria is up by 71.8% which is the largest in Australia, with New South Wales second at 54.4%. You can see in the REA weekly demand insights chart below, that we’re still way above the long term average for demand, and it’s only tapering off momentarily for the Christmas break.