In a year like no other, the Newcastle property market had some of its biggest sales on record.
After experiencing a downturn last year, 2020 opened with plenty of promise.
When COVID-19 brought the nation to a virtual standstill in March, it also brought uncertainty. But the Newcastle property market bounced back and finished the year in what most agents described as a buoyant market with positive signs for the start of 2021.
This year new sale records have been established in many suburbs, some results that exceeded expectations by far.
Out-of-area buyers increased, as did the number of registered bidders as many auctions, and the $7.25 million sale of a luxury home with one of Newcastle's most exclusive addresses set a new real estate record for the region.
PRD Newcastle and Lake Macquarie marketed the contemporary beachfront residence overlooking Merewether beach at 38 John Parade, which was secured by a local family in September after a matter of days on the market
The result surpassed the previous highest mark of $7 million, paid for historic Jesmond House at 10 Barker Street on The Hill in 2008.
At the time of the sale, PRD founding director Mark Kentwell said it "shines the spotlight on the entire region" and predicted more big results to follow.
"We had 17 private, qualified inspections teed up," Mr Kentwell told the Newcastle Herald in September. "They were people who could purchase. It demonstrates that there's a depth in this elite end of the market in our region and it's getting deeper."
The record result followed a string of new price highs for the region in what Mr Kentwell described as "a golden time" for the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie real estate market.
"That sale is proving that Newcastle's got a very stable economy and that stable economy is one of the growth drivers of our marketplace," Mr Kentwell told the Herald this month.
"Across Newcastle there's seven major sectors of employment and by having so many pillars to the economy we're not subject to the same ups and downs as other cities.
"The second thing is that there's very short strips of beachfront, very short strips of lakefront, very short strips of pockets of heritage. So if someone's got a particular preference there's generally going to be more people looking than for property available.
"That precedent-setting sale is basically showing there's a queue of people that are buying the right style of property. But, because it's pushed so much headroom into the market, it's created a vacuum of things directly behind it and there's a lot of other property now that is worth substantially more."
The John Parade sale came shortly after a seven-bedroom residence at 10 Ocean Street had set a new sale high for Merewether when it sold for $6.15 million in September after one day on the market. Another luxury residence with beach views at 6 Ocean Street was also secured quickly for what was believed to be around $6 million in October.
The $4 million mark was broken for Lake Macquarie with the $4.25 million sale of former Newcastle lord mayor Jeff McCloy's waterfront mansion at 148 Ross Street, Belmont in January.
That was eclipsed by the $6 million auction sale of an Eraring estate in August. The property at 7 Foreshore Street featured a six-bedroom, six-bathroom house with a 14-car garage on 6.75 acres on the peninsula. It attracted six registered bidders, mainly out of Sydney, with a Sydney businessman securing the property for use as a weekender.
The sale was described by McGrath Toukley's Chris Smith as "a game-changer" for the region.
The $4.775 million off-market sale of a waterfront residence at Salamander Bay in January raised the stakes for the whole Port Stephens region.
PRD Port Stephens' Dane Queenan sold the luxury home at 191 Soldiers Point Road to a Sydney buyer planning to use the property as a holiday house. At the time he said it was "a really positive sale for Port Stephens".
As the year rolled on, the records continued to fall. They included new sale price highs for Bar Beach ($5.725 million), Dudley ($4.2 million), Valentine ($4 million), New Lambton ($3.86 million), Warners Bay ($3.5 million), Lambton ($3.3 million), Eleebana. ($3.2 million), Speers Point ($2.75 million), Bolton Point ($2.675 million), Elermore Vale ($2.45 million), Redhead ($2.44 million), Cams Wharf ($2.1 million), Charlestown ($1.8 million), Tighes Hill ($1.79 million), Wyee Point ($1.782 million), Murrays Beach ($1.63 million), Cardiff Heights ($1.63 million), Adamstown ($1.61 million), Islington ($1.41 million), Wickham ($1.38 million), Highfields (believed to be over $1.3 million), and Kotara South ($1.185 million).
A residential sale high for a non-development site in Mayfield ($1.4 million) was recorded and for a non-acreage property in Cameron Park ($1.141 million).
The $5.45 million sale of the York penthouse at 1201/61 Shortland Esplanade in July was the highest sale for an existing apartment in Newcastle.
Figures from property analysts CoreLogic released in November showed the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie market had become more favourable to sellers than 12 months prior.
The CoreLogic Regional Market Update looked at capital growth over the 12 months to October in Australia's 25 largest non-capital city markets. In that period, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie recorded the lowest vendor discounts for house prices, excluding apartments, of all of those regional markets.
CoreLogic's head of Australian research Eliza Owen said the traditional drawcards for regional dwelling markets, such as lower density levels and lower purchase prices, coupled with the normalisation of working from home during the coronavirus crisis, had sparked increased levels of demand outside of cities.
This month, the Herald reported Newcastle property prices had broken the $600,000 barrier for the first time. The median price of all houses and apartments in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie jumped two per cent, from $585,341 in October to $602,510 in November, according to CoreLogic.
Newcastle suburbs then featured in CoreLogic's Best of the Best 2020 Report, which is a national suburb level analysis, released on December 17. Bar Beach came in at No.3 in the nation's top performing regional suburbs with a median house value of $1.736292 million. The Hill ($1.524596 million) was No.7.
Merewether was No.5 of the regional suburbs with the highest total of value of sales. Its total was $232.858125 million for 146 sales to September and a median of $1.274421 million in November. Port Macquarie was the top. Newcastle was No.5 for total of value of unit sales with $119.63 million for 136 sales and a median of $718,859.
"The relative popularity of lifestyle markets is evident in our report, and regional Australia out-performed the combined capital cities market," Ms Owen said. "With the exception of the highest median value suburbs, our Best of the Best report is dominated by high-performing regional areas across the country."
As the year's end approached, First National Newcastle City's George Rafty reported being "the busiest in terms of buyers that I've seen in my time".
A four-bedroom property in need of a renovation at 20 Regal Way in Valentine that he took to auction with a guide of $550,000 to $600,000 this month attracted 27 registered bidders and sold under the hammer for $750,000.
"That was the most registered bidders I've seen in 28 years in real estate," Mr Rafty told the Herald post-auction.
Ms Owen said housing values have been supported by a strong mix of regulatory, monetary and fiscal measures, which have induced record-low mortgage rates, the deferment of mortgage repayment for households impacted by COVID-19, support for low-income households, as well as grants and concessions for owner-occupier purchases.
"Overall, the housing market outlook for 2021 is positive, given highly accommodative monetary and fiscal policy, signs of an economic recovery and many first home buyer incentives remaining in place through to early next year," Ms Owen said.
The suburb record sales of 2020:
- Merewether: $7.25 million for 38 John Parade. The sale was the highest on record for the Newcastle region.
- Eraring: $6 million for 7 Foreshore Street. The auction sale was a Lake Macquarie record.
- Bar Beach: $5.725 million for 96 Memorial Drive.
- Salamander Bay: $4.775 million for 191 Soldiers Point Road. A record for Port Stephens.
- Dudley: $4.2 million for 8 Bombala Street.
- Belmont: $4.25 million for 148 Ross Street.
- Valentine: $4 million for 117 Dilkera Avenue.
- New Lambton: $3.86 million for 5 Ridge Lane.
- Warners Bay: $3.5 million for 526 The Esplanade.
- Lambton: $3.3 million for 1A Karoola Road.
- Eleebana: $3.2 million for 21 Burton Road.
- Speers Point: $2.75 million sale of 9 Berkley Street.
- Bolton Point: $2.675 million for 16 Wattle Street.
- Elermore Vale: $2.45 million for 22 Paddock Close.
- Redhead: $2.44 million for 7 Ocean Street.
- Cams Wharf: $2.1 million 7B Raffertys Road.
- Charlestown: $1.8 million for 41 Highland Close.
- Tighes Hill: $1.79 million for 11 Bryant Street.
- Wyee Point: $1.782 million for 7 Saddlers Way.
- Murrays Beach: $1.63 million for 21 Nine Acres Way.
- Cardiff Heights: $1.63 million for 24 Cockburns Lane.
- Adamstown: $1.61 million for 71 Lockyer Street.
- Islington: $1.41 million for 14 Power Street.
- Mayfield: $1.4 million for 88 Crebert Street (non-development site).
- Wickham: $1.38 million for 43 Albert Street.
- Highfields: 26-28 Hillcrest Parade, believed to be over $1.3 million.
- Kotara South: $1.185 million for 19 Kirkdale Drive.
