PROPERTY
HOT PROPERTY: TRENDS IN 2022 Last year saw house prices soar and the regional property market boom. What will 2022 bring? We give you our best property predictions for the year ahead. Words: Emily Riches The ongoing impacts and restrictions of COVID-19 are shaping all aspects of our lives: not least property design and development, and the way we inhabit and furnish our homes. With a slowing housing market, people are now turning to renovations and home improvements, often with an environmental conscience at the forefront.
SPEEDING UP AND SLOWING DOWN Australia’s soaring housing market saw massive increases over 2021. House prices rose 22.2 per cent nationally – the largest annual increase since 1989 according to data from CoreLogic, a property analytics organisation. Property values are tipped to keep climbing this year, but at a much slower rate. Factors such as affordability constraints, rising mortgage rates and tighter lending standards will impact price growth, as well as buyer demand. “If you’re expecting housing values to rise by a similar amount, I think you’re going to be disappointed,” says
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Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s research director. “Values are still broadly rising, but nowhere near as fast as they were in early 2021.” Westpac has predicted capital city prices to rise another 8 per cent this year. However, Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan notes that there is a more meaningful slowdown in price growth already happening in Melbourne, while smaller cities like Brisbane and Adelaide are still accelerating. Coastal centres close to capital cities are still some of the most popular for buyers looking for a sea change but still wanting to be able to commute. This includes the Gold Coast in south-east Queensland and Shoalhaven in NSW.
RENOVATION NATION This year will see a boom in renovations across the country. With two years of pandemic lockdowns, limited overseas travel and state border closures, people have had plenty of time (and cash) spare to reassess their housing needs and preferences.
Eleanor Creagh, senior economist at realestate. com.au’s data arm PropTrack, says, “home renovations have boomed nationwide as more time spent at home combined with ultra-low loan rates, government grants and improved household savings became the perfect combination of factors to drive heightened demand for renovations.” Big changes include creating home office spaces
to allow for flexibility in working from home, and creating spaces that can be used for multiple purposes. Getting creative with vertical or hidden storage, cupboard desks and office nooks shows that multifunctional spaces are firmly set to become an everyday feature in our lives, with people choosing to optimise space rather than invest in a larger property. Eleanor says, “for some,
