Renovation activity likely to increase

With the rate of property value growth slowing, sales volumes falling and construction of new housing continuing to soften we wouldn’t be surprised to see an increase in the number of homes undergoing renovation over the coming months.

Renovation activity comes in many shapes and sizes and includes; ‘major’ renovations where owners add additional rooms to a house, ‘moderate’ renovations such as a new kitchen or bathroom, or ‘minor’ renovations such as re-painting or re-tiling rooms.

When comparing the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data for June 2009 to June 2010, the total value of building approvals for alterations and additions (including refurbishment and conversion) has increased by 13.8% to more than $520 million during the month.

Despite the increase in the total value of building approvals for alterations and additions increasing, housing finance data shows that owner occupiers have actually committed to -12.2% less finance for alterations and additions than they did 12 months previous.

The two results would seem to contradict one another.  The increase in building approvals data suggests that the major renovations where owners alter or extend their property are still occurring.On the other hand, the decline in housing finance data suggests that many of these projects aren’t requiring finance.

Over the June quarter of 2010 property value growth has slowed and sales activity has begun to fall.These conditions convey that some home owners may be more likely to remain in their current home rather than sell and move.When you consider moving costs and stamp duty you can see why some people would prefer to stay put.

Below is the median home price across each capital city and the approximate amount of stamp duty payable based on that price:

• Sydney – $495,000, $18,500
• Melbourne – $470,000, $23,300
• Brisbane – $445,000, $14,000
• Adelaide – $390,000, $15,800
• Perth – $475,000, $16,600
• Hobart – $320,000, $10,300
• Darwin – $489,750, $23,100
• Canberra – $495,000, $20,200

You must also consider that often when home owners move they purchase a more expensive property and there are other costs such as: legal fees, cleaning and removalists to consider.

Although building commencements data was still reasonably positive up to the March quarter of this year, building approvals have been trending lower since March and are now down -19.5% over the three to June.  Owner occupier housing finance commitments for the construction of new dwellings and for the purchase of new dwellings is down -23.6% and -13.7% respectively over the year indicating that there are far fewer opportunities for those looking to buy a brand new home.  A brand new home will essentially have everything the purchaser needs and not require any improvement (at least in the short term).

With the prospects of strong property value growth seemingly diminishing over the second half of 2010 we expect home owners to look to add value through renovation.For anyone that has owned since the beginning of the price surge at the beginning of 2009, they are likely to have more than enough equity to undertake some property improvements to their home.

For more property sales and real estate data please visit the myrp.com.au web site.

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