By Jessica Anstice
Regional areas surrounding Cardinia Shire are experiencing a real estate boom, with Melburnians jumping at the opportunity to purchase houses and land without seeing them in person.
Since Covid-19 restrictions came into play, there has been an increase in suburban residents seeking a tree-change by either buying or enquiring about properties on the market in Baw Baw Shire.
Pakenham and Drouin Barry Plant real estate managing director Dan O’Loughlin said the amount of people enquiring about purchasing properties in Baw Baw Shire has increased “dramatically” during the lockdown.
“Sales have remained steady but the interest through enquiry has increased dramatically with metro buyers showing a lot more interest in property in regional areas,” Mr O’Loughlin said.
“I can see the interest being due to more flexibility in the regional areas in regards to movement, schooling and a more relaxed approach to the lockdown rules due to lower numbers of infection.
“However buyers in metro regions have not been able to come into the regional area to inspect property which has impacted the amount of physical inspections on properties.”
Under the current Covid-19 restrictions, prospective buyers from metropolitan areas are not able to physically inspect properties in both Cardinia and Baw Baw shires.
However those already living in regional areas are now able to attend one-on-one private inspections.
Regardless of the inability to conduct one-on-one property inspections, Mr O’Loughlan said the agency has sold “a lot more” houses during the lockdown than what was anticipated, particularly in the Pakenham and Officer areas.
In the past 10 days alone, seven properties in Pakenham and Officer were sold to buyers who had not physically been to the sites.
Since agents are not able to conduct traditional inspections, the team at Barry Plant, as well as other local agencies, have introduced virtual inspections via video conferencing platform, Zoom.
Prospective buyers will join a video call and the agent will describe the home while the vendor walks through the property filming.
“Buyers have the ability to ask questions as they go,” Mr O’Loughlin explained.
“On Saturday alone we conducted a virtual inspection with 18 groups of buyers sitting in the comfort of their own home viewing a property.
“We had three offers by Saturday night and the home was sold within 24 hours of the Zoom inspection.”
Ray White Drouin real estate agent Dale Atkin said he has noticed a lot more people interested in moving to Baw Baw Shire compared to normal.
“There’re all waiting to come into Baw Baw Shire to have a look,” he said.
“We’re doing plenty of virtual tours but obviously lots don’t want to buy until they physically see the properties.
“I think people just want the change in lifestyle and the land.”
Mr Atkin said he is expecting there to be a big real estate boom once restrictions finally lift.
“It’s going to be a busy time,” he added.
“Everything is still reasonably priced in the Baw Baw Shire compared to other areas.”
First home buyers Matthew and Saleste Noonan recently purchased a home and land package in Warragul without ever having seen it.
The Malvern couple had been thinking of buying a property prior to the pandemic and decided to take the leap of faith during it.
“We’ve been looking for a property for a little while and we had more free time with Covid and being stuck inside,” Ms Noonan said.
“Because of the restrictions we couldn’t go out there ourselves to make our minds up so Matt’s dad, Greg, went for a drive there and sent us some photos.
“It wasn’t until after we had committed verbally that we were able to sneak out and have a look at it ourselves.”
Mr and Ms Noonan purchased the home and land package through Burbank Homes.
With a strict list of requirements, Ms Noonan said they knew exactly what they wanted and for how much.
“We really knew what we were looking for in terms of the land size and the key features including the bedrooms and bathrooms,” she explained.
“We just did a lot of research on that and spent a lot of hours talking to different builders and then we kind of just landed with Burbank and we were so happy with what they could offer us and the time frames.
“Although Covid has made us do things a little differently, we really have put our faith in the Burbank team and are relying on our knowledge and research of the area.”
Having grown up in Maryknoll and Kooweerup, the pair always had their hearts set on eventually moving to the countryside.
“We had the intention of buying something whether it be somewhere from Nar Nar Goon back to Warragul because we see the value in that,” she added.
“We really like those areas but obviously we live in Malvern and Malvern’s a very different lifestyle. I think now that we’re married perhaps our priorities are changing a little bit.
“In particular, with Warragul, we can see the growth and I guess everything slowly moves out if you look at suburbs like Clyde, Officer and even Pakenham now creeping out to Nar Nar Goon.”
For those tossing up whether or not to take the plunge and purchase a property during the lockdown, Ms Noonan’s advice is to “just go for it”.
“After spending nearly six months indoors in Malvern, we cannot wait to have some space,” she said.
“I think that if you’ve done the research and you know what you’re after, it’s like anything, if you have the right team around you just go for it.
“It’s a piece of grass, it’s going to be okay.”
