Geraldton property predictions 2023: Strong growth to continue, rental crisis remains and increased investment

Geraldton’s property market has a bright outlook for 2023 with its stable and affordable status holding it in good stead, according to real estate experts. The local market experienced strong growth in 2022, the rental crisis showed signs of easing while the building industry continued to suffer labour and resource shortages. The Geraldton Guardian spoke to three real estate agents to get their predictions for the local market in 2023. REIWA president Joe White said Geraldton’s property market was back to where it was 10 years ago, highlighting the median sale price. Geraldton’s median sale price in 2022 was $370,000 compared to $380,000 in 2012 and 2013. “So in other words, the prices in Geraldton really, even though they’ve gone up (in the past five years) have been remarkably stable and remarkably affordable,” he said. According to REIWA, market conditions across regional WA were expected to remain strong in 2023. Lifestyle will be a driving factor behind where people to choose to live, especially if there are local employment opportunities in regional areas. “Geraldton has got such a diverse base, you’ve also got a lifestyle element there,” Mr White said. “I think in terms of trends, we’ve seen a lot of population growth in the regions, particularly the larger regions, and the coastal regions. I think Geraldton’s got a pretty good future as has the Mid West.” However, Geraldton’s rental market still remains “incredibly tight” in 2023 and Mr White believes the only solution is more housing. “Everything you hear about the rental crisis, it’s true and you can play around with the details on it as much as you’d like. People blame Airbnb, they blame negative gearing, they blame all sorts of things,” he said. “The solution to this whole thing, they’re all legitimate uses, yes there may be some that are more urgent than others . . . but the critical thing here is we need more total housing.” Activewest’s Phil Sorgiovanni expects the Geraldton property market to remain steady in terms of residential sales over the next 12 months. He highlighted increased interest from Eastern States investors, barring any significant shifts in world economic conditions and exports remaining steady. “Their market is contracting whilst ours has experienced strong growth, but is yet to reach the numbers from 2009 to 2012 highs,” he said. “There are a number of exciting projects coming online in the not-too-distant future for the region as well as some more speculative projects which may create that interest.” As investors come back into the market this should place more properties back into the rental pool and may make it a little easier for those looking to rent, according to Mr Sorgiovanni. “This is the quickest way to relieve the rental shortage but if some of these newer projects commence then they may also be quickly occupied,” he said. Mr Sorgiovanni believes commercial properties will still hold significant interest to investors and owner occupiers, citing the shortage of lease and sales stock in the region. Ray White’s Henry Van Tiel said the same factors that drove strong growth in the market last year, supply and demand, were still present “If we look at this time a year ago, the market was very, very strong and prices were rising both in rentals and house prices while land prices remained steady at best,” he said. There are slightly more homes available to buy or rent now, than this time last year according to Mr Van Tiel. “Interest rates have had some impact of course and for many buyers, this has meant purchasing in a price bracket below what they originally intended to,” he said. Mr Van Tiel said considerable increases in rent had made buying a property more worthwhile than renting, despite interest rate rises. He predicted the wait time for new home builds would continue for a while yet, meaning buyers would turn to established homes, adding further pressure to the market.