Certainly wasn't meaning to offend. Was just genuinely curious as to what properties were being purchased and for what reasons, as I reside on the North coast in a similar coastal environment.
Harro there are many variations as has been indicated. The main difference between where you are and the shoalhaven is the number of hours drive time to sydney.
The reason rents have historically stayed a little lower and there has been little growth for 10 yrs is that there is no heavy industry, not like the hunter for example. That is also now part of the charm. Vacancies are now very tight rents are rising.
The coast is actually stunning down here, surfing world class and pristine beaches you can have to yourself 10 months of the yr. As it is up north, when I sea changed out of Sydney 7 yrs ago, I looked north, but couldn't find anywhere I really liked until I got at least 5 hours out of Sydney. Here I am only 2 hours from family which makes day trips and weekends much easier for family functions.
I have built my family a 5 bed home within 1 km of the ocean for a relatively affordable price and in my estate I try and talk to all my new neighbours. Around 40% are retirees doing the final build project many are from Sydney but a surprising number are retired farmers and business owners from major inland regionals. That shocked me a bit but lots have spent a life on the land owning and working large properties and must have spent decades saying to themselves "one day we will retire to the coast" coz here they are.
40% would be young/middle aged families like mine who left Syd, Canberra, Melb looking for a great place to raise kids and enjoy the beach. The primary income earners in these families work in local, state and federal gov departments, or schools or hospitals.
The other 10 percent are local chippies doing spec build/live in/sell for profit and 10 percent rentals. That is just my observation and just my estate.
More broadly there is definitely a large wave of retirees wanting new homes and villas so that is keeping all the builders I know very busy. Industry as mentioned, but retail, tourism, and now housing construction all feature strongly.
Population forecasts are for continued population growth, which is its own driver given the extra need for housing and the jobs this creates.
People are commuting north to Sydney from further and further south. I just came home from inspecting a unit near the water (off market) in the Shellharbour area and the owner works in Sydney.
Nowra locals I know are saying once the road is fixed past berry they would consider commuting for work. Nowra has its own thriving service industry and a big hospital which pulls a lot of jobs.
People like me have lots of Sydney clients but work is mobile. I have mates who are architects, software and web designers and business owners etc doing freelance work all over the country or online type work and they go up to Syd 1 or 2 days a week to meet with teams or clients and work from home the rest of the time. Its a great lifestyle as you get to pick up your kids from school, take them to the beach, work around those kinds of things, and not waste hours of everyday in heavy traffic.
The key driver of price growth right now is the wave of Sydney money looking for a home. After 10 yrs of flat there are plenty of bargains and people are buying for relocation, weekending, pure investment, and investment with view to eventual retirement. Like I have quite a few FIFO (fly in fly out) mining worker clients. Some of them buy a house near the beach to invest for the next 10 yrs and say that when they get out of FIFO work they want to live somewhere they love.
The vast majority buy and rent long term. Holiday let is still a niche business and most don't have the time or energy. It only works on certain properties. It is a good way to increase a lousy 2-3% yeilding beachfront home in Mollymook worth 700-1mil up to a 5% yield if well managed. Occupancy is increasingly year round for those properties. But you can't buy a dump for 280k out the back of town not close to beach and expect anyone to holiday there. Most people I know who do this want to holiday in it and then let it occasionally and they get sub standard results for this reason. The ones winning are buying absolute premium locations and really setting the place up to meet the market. They are getting over 3k per week on a regular basis.
