It would appear that the Northern Rivers region bounced back from any flow-on effect on land values due to the 2019-20 mega bushfires and, the pandemic appears to have actually increased demand for housing in the region. Now residential and commercial property owners are waiting on the first official post February-March 2022 floods land value report.
BACKGROUND
Pre-July
2019 to March 2020 Bushfire Season
NSW
Valuer-General’s Report for NSW Land Values at 1 July 2019
North
Coast NSW region local government areas
Ballina,
Bellingen, Byron, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Kyogle,
Lismore, Mid-Coast, Nambucca, Port Macquarie- Hastings, Richmond
Valley, Tweed
General
overview
The
total land value for the North Coast NSW region increased 1% between
1 July 2018 and 1 July 2019 from $85.8 billion to $86.7 billion.
The
value of residential land value in the region generally remained
steady or increased slightly with an overall increase of 0.6%.
However, moderate increases were experienced in Richmond Valley (6%)
and Lismore (5%). Overall, values in Byron decreased slightly by 2.6%
except for residential land in central Byron Bay which increased by
6.5% and residential land in the villages of Billinudgel, Federal and
Main Arm which increased by 5%.
Commercial
land values across the region generally remained steady or increased
slightly with an overall increase of 0.9%. An exception to this was
Kyogle where values increased moderately by 6.8%, with increases
mainly confined to the northern part of the Kyogle town centre.
Industrial
land values in the region generally remained steady with an overall
increase of 1.6%. Values increased slightly in Port
Macquarie-Hastings (4.4%) and Richmond Valley (4%), and moderately in
Kyogle (6.2%)
and Ballina (5.9%).
Rural
land values in the region generally increased slightly with an
overall increase of 2.5%. Rural land in Lismore, however, experienced
a moderate increase of 8.1% due to a strong demand for hobby farm and
rural lifestyle properties.
Post-July
2019 to March 2020 Bushfire Season
North
Coast Voices,
14 February 2021:
As
of 28 January 2020 the climate change-induced 2019-20 bushfires in
New South Wales had burnt 5.3 million hectares (6.7% of the State),
including over 52 per cent of the land area in the Clarence Valley
and close to 49% of the land area in the Richmond Valley.
Now
we find out how this affected land values in those two local
government areas.
Decreases
were evident in some areas impacted by bushfire events, with the
largest land value decreases in Rappville and Whiporie in Richmond
Valley (-21%) and unspecified moderate to strong decreases in
localities south of Grafton, Coutts Crossing and the Clarence River.
In the middle of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic
NSW
Valuer-General’s Report for NSW Land Values at 1 July 2021
North
Coast NSW region local government areas
Ballina,
Bellingen, Byron, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Kyogle,
Lismore, Mid-Coast, Nambucca, Port Macquarie- Hastings, Richmond
Valley and Tweed.
General
overview
The
total land value for the North Coast NSW region increased by 28.7%
between 1 July 2020 and 1 July 2021 from $89.3 billion to $115.5
billion.
Residential
land values increased by 27.9% overall. The strongest growth was in
Byron (51.9%), followed by Ballina (39.3%), Richmond Valley (38.4%),
Clarence Valley (31.9%) and Kyogle (27.4%). Strong increases were
also seen in Port Macquarie (17.9%), Kempsey (17.0%) and Lismore
(17.7%).
Sea
and tree changers relocating to work remotely drove demand along the
North Coast seaboard.
Overall,
commercial land values increased by 28.7%. Byron (50.3%) experienced
the strongest increases due to strong demand in a tightly held
market. Other large increases were seen in Tweed (23.6%), Ballina
(28.8%), Richmond Valley (37.5%) and Port Macquarie (27.3%), Kyogle
(11.4%) and Kempsey (10.7%), while Lismore (9.0%) increased
moderately with supply meeting demand.
Industrial
land values for the region increased by 22.6%. Very strong increases
in Byron (37.1%) followed heightened demand for relatively affordable
industrial space in Bangalow and Mullumbimby. An increase in building
activity saw demand outstrip supply in Port Macquarie Hastings
(36.5%). Nambucca (31.9%) saw strong demand for limited stock while a
balanced supply of industrial land resulted in moderate-strong value
increases in Clarence Valley (7.3%), Lismore (11.1%), and Richmond
Valley (11.7%).
Rural
land values across the region increased by 30.5%. Byron increased
70.5% as the residential market moved into hobby farms and lifestyle
properties, while nearby Ballina experienced a very strong 32.2%
increase. Strong increases were also seen in Coffs Harbour (11.9%),
Nambucca (28.8%) and Clarence Valley (22.9%), with increased demand
from both lifestyle changers and rural producers. Good rainfall,
buoyant commodity prices, low interest rates and a favourable
seasonal outlook has seen on-going demand for quality cropping and
grazing land from local and interstate buyers and western graziers.
Generally
the Valuer-General’s land value reports are published within six
months either side of the 1 July date at which any value change is calculated.
Given
that property sales are the most important factor valuers consider
when determining land values and since the NSW February-March 2022
widespread destructive flooding along the Australian east coast has
left whole villages, towns & even cities with a significant
percentage of their housing stock in an unsaleable condition, I
suspect that this year’s land value report may be delayed.