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Population influxes and infrastructure spending are two significant markers of a property market growth, according to buyers agent and CEO of PropertyBuyer Rich Harvey.
Speaking to The Adviser’s sister title Smart Property Investment, Mr Harvey stated that, in addition to the low interest rate environment in Australia, population growth “is continuing to drive the market”.
He continued: “If you look at the projections, I think by 2050 we're going to have something like 37 million people in Australia, as compared to 25 [million] now.”
These figures will inherently affect the supply and demand dynamics of the market, he said, whilst also requiring new infrastructure spending, which will both push up prices in certain affected areas, according to Mr Harvey.
He shared with Smart Property Investment the top seven infrastructure projects going on throughout Sydney, and the areas he believes will benefit the most from the subsequent market growth.
“[The] top seven infrastructure projects in Sydney is obviously the Badgerys Creek second airport, due to be completed by 2026, [which is] going to have a massive impact on Western Sydney. So that's a big one,” Mr Harvey said.
“Northwest Rail links is open and people are loving it. [It’s a] really easy journey into the city. Two big roadworks, WestConnex and NorthConnex that's going to really improve travel time, right across Sydney.
“Down South, you've got the F6 corridor expansion, the freeway heading down to Wollongong.
“Another one, another tunnel they're going to dig, which is the Western Harbor tunnel to the Northern beaches. Now that'll be a game changer for the Northern beaches. It'll really improve traffic flow there.
“And then finally the Sydney light rail. All of these poor shop owners along George Street and out through Randwick can finally breathe a sigh of relief [as] that's up and running.”
A fair number of these projects will overlap in terms of the effect on localities and suburb growth prices, said Mr Harvey.
Given these projects, Mr Harvey shared what he believes to be the most significant beneficiaries of current infrastructure spending in the Western suburbs, stating: “I think there's three in Western Sydney that I've be looking at and that's Penrith, Liverpool and Blacktown.
“All of those ‘ini cities’ are going to experience a definite spike in growth from Western Sydney airport,” he said.
He continued: “Penrith's got a median house price currently of $668,000, Liverpool median of a $766,000 and Blacktown [at] $710,000. Now, according to Residex, they're all predicted to grow around 6 per cent per annum for the next eight years. So, that's a pretty strong consistent growth.”
Mr Harvey shared the suburbs most likely to boom in light of the new inner-west rail services including the extension of the Sydney Metro and the light rail, which will be “really strong” drivers of capital growth.
“I've got three suburbs in the inner west that I really like and that's: Five Dock; Hurlstone Park; and Earlwood.
“That's a nice little pocket. Your median house price is quite high but also apartments in those areas. There's plenty of apartments there that need to be gentrified and have some opportunities,” the buyers agent continued.
Mr Harvey predicted growth of 8 per cent per annum for the next eight years in those areas.
He also discussed the proposed Western Harbour tunnel and beaches link, which would see reduced travel time from the northern beaches into the city.
“So there's three suburbs I've picked in those areas and that's Frenchs Forest, which is getting some good spinoff from the hospital that's just being built, Balgowlah and also Brookvale.”
Due to the infrastructure spending, he predicted growth of 6 per cent per annum for the next eight years for Frenchs Forest, and 7 per cent per annum for Balgowlah and Brookvale.
[Related: Home loan volumes slip despite stimulus]
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