As we click over 2 years of COVID-19 impacting our lives, in this article we reflect on the ways the virus has impacted the property market in Australia, and particularly within regional areas such as Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. 

Renters are being warned to brace for continued rent price increases in 2022 as shortages in rental supply, and the end of stagnated population growth, drive up competition for available properties. 

The number of available rental properties has continued to trend down since mid-2020, heavily influenced by the many knock-on effects of COVID-19. According to realestate.com.au, across our capital cities, the median cost to rent a property has increased by 6.7% over the past 12 months, which equates to $1500 per year. In regional areas, growth has been even more significant, with median rents up 8.5%, or $1600 per year.

Within the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie areas specifically (not at the national aggregated regional level reported by realestate.com.au), the increase in rents has been more dramatic still.

Over the past 6-12 months we've had an increasing number of conversations with new and existing investors who are interested in buying into the property market in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, but don't know where to invest. 

The point of this post is not to provide a hit-list of suburbs (sorry!) - and the reason for this should become obvious as you read on! One person's ideal investment opportunity is another person's problem project.

Instead, we aim to provide some fundamental food for thought, to help assist in ruling out certain opportunities or areas and focusing on what suits YOU as an investor... what suits your personal appetite for risk, amount of time to hold before selling, etc. 

Of course this is not an exhaustive list of points to consider, and certainly should not be taken as strategic or financial advice. We are simply offering some basics to consider to separate the good from the bad opportunities as they might suit YOUR unique situation.

We are commonly asked by landlords "How long will it take to rent my property?", and there are of course many factors which influence the answer! One of the less obvious factors can even be the time of year you list your property for rent. 

A recent article from realestate.com.au provides some insight into which months of the year typically see most rental listings and the highest number of rental searches. We summarise the results below, also adding in findings from our own data from Newcastle and Lake Macquarie based on our listings in 2021. 

As has become our end of year tradition, for the fourth year we take a look back and share with you some of the many photos we've taken during a year of living and working in beautiful Lake Macquarie and Newcastle. 

It's been another crazy year of lockdowns, remote work, and never-ending change, as it has for all of us. 

We hope you enjoy this look back at some of the things that make this little patch of the world we live in so beautiful, despite everything else going on. 

All the best for a safe and prosperous 2022. 🥂
- Natalie, Paul and the CPM team

Oh - and if you'd like to take a look back at our previous years' wrap-ups, see 2018, 2019 and 2020. 

Investors of property in regional NSW will be pleased with the data presented in the latest CoreLogic November Home Value Index. The report, released on December 1, highlights the continued strength of property in the regions both from a capital growth and rental yield perspective - and indicates that Regional NSW specifically has outperformed many other areas of Australia.