Phillip Island – Home is where the heart is

Many people who have travelled to and from Phillip Island will know that there is a moment as you round the Anderson hills and get your first glimpse of the Island, there is an “Aaahh . . . I’m almost there” moment.  It’s a feeling many of us can attest to, you know that you have fallen in love and moving down is a wish that eventually becomes a next step in your future . . . even if you don’t get that feeling straight away, the more you come here, the more you want to make it home.  Many of us in our Office have made the great migration to Phillip Island and our reasons have been varied.  To say that we’re all happy with our decisions to move to our beautiful Island, is an understatement.  From a real estate perspective, it has been a very busy marketplace for our Team.

According to Real Estate.com, in the last quarter our sales team have dealt with an average of 755 enquiries per month and there have been over 439,000 total page engagements with our listings.  During this time, 329 properties were listed on Phillip Island and our Agents secured 18% of these new listings.  In the same quarter, 169 properties were sold and our Agents were responsible for selling 29% of these listings with our average days on market being 126 days.
As at November 2017, the amount of sales listings has reduced by 46% in the last 12 months.

An island local for 36 years, our principal Kristien Formosa, has watched our water-locked haven change from its mostly older fibro and brick homes to more modern builds.  “Now people have the choice to live in an estate environment or the more established areas with trees and older style homes,” Mr Formosa said.  Despite new estates increasing housing stock, he said supply was struggling to keep up with demand, as more people moved from Melbourne, particularly the Pakenham and Berwick corridor.  “There’s a mix of young families, retirees, people wanting to downsize and people wanting holiday homes. It’s not just investors,” he said.  Phillip Island’s traditional pull has been to people aged over 60, but with a strong community vibe and an attractive lifestyle for home buyers —particularly those priced out of an ever-expensive Mornington Peninsula — that age is starting to lower, Mr Formosa said.

After talking to our Agents about people shopping in our Marketplace there seems to be an even split between Investors and Owner/Occupiers.  Our investors are a mix of people buying now with the intention to either retire or move into the property at a later stage while our potential owners are a combination of upsizers, downsizers, sea changers, retirees and families.  Our Sales Team are independently surveyed by both Vendors and Purchasers when a property is sold, feedback from both parties indicates that our Teams professional approach, friendly manner and communicative process is the reason behind the fantastic results our Agents have been achieving year on year.

Our rentals market place has also been busy, at the moment there is a lack of permanent rental properties and lots of demand from potential applicants.  The last 3 months have seen us secure 35% of new rental listings and have leased 30% of listings in the market place.  We are encouraging potential Landlords to take the leap and list their permanent rentals now as there is such a low amount of rental listings available.  For Investors out there, this is an important thing to note.  Our Property Management Team are adept at the specialty that is managing property. We understand that whether the property was your former home or is your investment property – our Team have the skill set and care factor to look after your asset as though it were their own.

After speaking with one of our past Tenants about how their new house was going, they opened up about how happy they were to have made the move.  After living in an area north east of Melbourne, our Tenants decided they would sell up and make a sea change to Phillip Island.  They rented for a period of time with our Agency then moved into their newly built house, which they love and best of all, they couldn’t be happier with their decision.

This is a story that is repeated many times over for people buying on the Island and for most of us who chose to make the sea change.  With Melbourne only 2 hours away, we are still within reach of the city but far enough away to appreciate the laid back living of Phillip Island.  That “Aaahh” moment never gets old and you know when driving back to the Island – home is definitely where the heart is!  Depending on where you are in your life journey, if you are thinking about making the move or investing for the future, we would suggest you give us a call to speak to an expert in our market place on  03 5952 2799.