Suburb spotlight: Bayview, NSW, undergoing a shift

Located on the northern beaches of New South Wales, Bayview was named as such thanks to its beautiful views across Pittwater. The property market mainly caters to the prestige sector, while there are three retirement villages as well.

Australian Property Monitors senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson told Property Observer that the Bayview property market “hasn’t quite captured the growth we’ve had in other areas”.

“The Northern beaches has been a little flat this year. The lower north has mainly underperformed in the last three to four years in the Sydney housing market,” he said.

He notes that the prestige market areas such as Palm Beach and Avalon have seen a shortage of buyers in the market this year, possibly because the same areas oversold about three to four years ago.

“The properties have been sold at a discount through the last couple of years, and have not registered price growth,” Dr Wilson said.

Interestingly, Dr Wilson notes that the bottom market has seen some activity.

“Recently, most of the markets have been improving from a surge of activity from the bottom. Prestige suburbs have been gaining because they’re being pushed up from the bottom,” he said. 

He revealed Bayview has seen “quite strong price growth” in the last six months, recording a 13.4% increase in median price over that period. However he notes that those statistics come from a small number of sales, which may not reflect market sentiment.

“Despite growth in price over the last six months, Bayview’s median house price is still below its previous peak in 2010. But this is certainly an encouraging sign for the northern beaches, which has been an underperformer during the strong market period in Sydney this year,” Dr Wilson said.

He added that buyers are “pushing up the bottom” in the $2 million to $3 million price range. 

Bay.View.Beach Real Estate director Graeme Keats told Property Observer that the Bayview property market is “definitely stronger than 12 months ago” for both price and sales. 

He added that prices have increased in the last six weeks due to buyer demand.

Keats also noted that the Bayview demographic is predominantly made up of an aging population.

“We are finding a lot of the sellers who have had their children move on are now selling,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that off-leash dog park Rowland Reserve is a popular spot.

“Rowland reserve has always been a favourite spot for not only the locals but people as far as St. Ives bring their animals down for a swim,” he said.

Moving into 2014, Keats hopes there will be a 5% price growth, which will give vendors who are contemplating putting their properties on market a push.

He also believes Bayview’s proximity to the Sydney CBD, which takes about 45 minutes by car, is an advantage.

“It is a great place to live, mainly in Bayview heights which offers great views on a minimum size of an acre per lot,” he added.

According to the latest RP Data report, the median house price in Bayview is $1,175,000, down 14.2% on last year. The average discount required to sell a house is 9.7%, while private treaty sales average 101 days on market. 

The median asking rent for houses is $1000 per week, while gross rental yield currently stands at 4.4%.