City apartment rents are crashing, is it an opportunity?

[GoldfishMan]

If you look around the City at the moment, there are heaps of fully-furnished apartments that have been put up for rent. A lot of them are ex-Airbnb that the owners are now forced to rent out really cheap just to be able to cover their loan repayments.
You can easily get a centrally located fully furnished apartment now for less than $600 per week, and some will even give you weeks of free rent.
My opinion is, this will not last and the owners will probably be forced to sell, triggering a property price crash, but that's another topic!
In the mean time, $600 is roughly equal to 2 nights in a 5 star hotel (or even less!). You get the apartment for 7 days. I mean, depending on the frequency of your punting, or if you have punting buddies, this could be a great option!

[Raybo]

definitely a renters market. A friend had to find a place a couple of weeks ago, was sorted in two days and looked at 10 different apartments!

You could potentially look at a 3 month lease at these reduced prices and have a reasonably safe punting pad that should see you through the worst of this. Definitely food for thought!

[halfway]

Time for some owners to rent out the whole floor and set up shop as privates :cool2:

[holi_day]

Once we start accepting foreign students they will start to flood in. Australia is probably the safest country at the moment for overseas study.

Many students will take Australia a better option over US and Europe.

[Vader]

Once we start accepting foreign students they will start to flood in. Australia is probably the safest country at the moment for overseas study.

Many students will take Australia a better option over US and Europe.

I heard on the news this morning that they were trying to work out a way of letting foreign students back in before we open the borders to everybody

[AHLUNGOR]

Taiwan is fast tracking to take back any overseas students who wish to return to universities across Taiwan !

[Climax598]

No offense to Taiwan, but most Taiwanese universities are inferior to that of Australia, HK or Singapore.
They're even worse than Japan, China or Korea
How do you know that? Have you study at their uni?

[yug]

Nah don't think so.. from the pandemic response, the government has undermined the image. Most students now prefer to go to Canada as they open an easier pathway for them to live and settle in the country.
The only exception is the current students that already in Australia.

What he said!
Canada has been much better option for a while.

[annintofu]

rents are definitely much more reasonable now, but I'm not sure how a punter takes advantage of a 1br apartment at $600/week in the city.

Say you are living in a house with your family in the suburbs right now, and you shell out an extra $600 every week to rent an apartment in the city, where is the benefit?
Besides, it's going to blow a hole of over $2500 in your monthly budget, kinda hard to hide from your family?

On a side note, I'm glad Airbnb hosts have taken a huge hit from the pandemic. Never a fan of Airbnb, which has wreaked havoc for neighbors who want to live in peace. Never understand why anyone would share their room with strangers.

a guy in the office kept bragging about an investment property he bought last year and rented out on Airbnb, this year he has totally shut up.

[Meng]

Yea only possible if you’re on a general manager or greater salary like brothel creeper

[xcite]

Should be easier for the shops to book rooms for girls to private though?

[Adam8989]

Once we start accepting foreign students they will start to flood in. Australia is probably the safest country at the moment for overseas study.

Many students will take Australia a better option over US and Europe.


Sydney Uni is delaying the start of semester 2 to 24 August. Maybe they are working with the government to give more time for things to settle down before letting foreign students back in around that date. The problem will be the 14 day quarantine for them stuck in hotels.

[johns]

My sentiments exactly. Never a fan of those guys that over leveraged to buy multiple properties.

the most bullshit thing is when all these people over leverage to buy multiple properties and they're called 'moguls' or some other bullshit...

[Vader]

Never put all your eggs in one basket with any form of investing

[GoldfishMan]

rents are definitely much more reasonable now, but I'm not sure how a punter takes advantage of a 1br apartment at $600/week in the city.

Say you are living in a house with your family in the suburbs right now, and you shell out an extra $600 every week to rent an apartment in the city, where is the benefit?
Besides, it's going to blow a hole of over $2500 in your monthly budget, kinda hard to hide from your family?

On a side note, I'm glad Airbnb hosts have taken a huge hit from the pandemic. Never a fan of Airbnb, which has wreaked havoc for neighbors who want to live in peace. Never understand why anyone would share their room with strangers.

a guy in the office kept bragging about an investment property he bought last year and rented out on Airbnb, this year he has totally shut up.
That $600 average was for a 2br place. Sorry I was too absorbed in my own research!
And, I just checked again, 1br fully furnished, located around Wynyard are down to $350 a week now, with average hovering around $500 at better locations. That means it is quite possible to get a decent one for $400/week.
I know, $400/week still adds up to $1732/month, and $350/week goes to $1515/month. That's a huge punting overhead and not worth it if you rarely punt. However, say you have a few punting buddies, and you come up with a "roster" of your own, you can pretty much fully utilise it as a punting den, every day of the month. That overhead comes down significantly.
Anyway, was just a lightbulb moment.

I am with the others on this thread, screw all those MF "property investors", none of them have a soul. This includes the realtors spruiking all these overpriced units. "Property prices never go down", they say. Using peoples' needs to have a roof over their heads to get rich... How is that different from buying a cancer drug company and jacking up the price of the drug by 10000%? I'd rather burn all my money on the stock market than be part of that group!
Well, this virus is like payback to all those greedy bastards. Call it the karma virus. A lot of these MFs took out massive loans to buy overpriced units that could only be serviced by doing Airbnb, not LT tenants. Worse, they're also pushing down LT rents because of so many units hitting the market, and because they're so desperate to rent their units out and slashing prices like it's nothing.
Most of them *will* have to sell ... into a market with record high unemployment and zero immigration. The fight we're having with China is the cherry on top... Perfect for alienating ourselves from an entire nation of property investors.

[spir55]

Sydney Uni is delaying the start of semester 2 to 24 August. Maybe they are working with the government to give more time for things to settle down before letting foreign students back in around that date. The problem will be the 14 day quarantine for them stuck in hotels.

The government won't pay for non australian citizens to stay in a Hotel for 14 days.

[dotcumdotinyou]

Totally agree Goldie.

Just wait till September when the jobkeeper allowance ends and the banks start asking borrowers to begin to repay their mortgages again.

[Climax598]

Burn baby burn. There will be alot of suicide. Some both partners lost job or reduce income.

[bjl0v3s]

id rather not get into these units as when the landlords decide to up their rent in the future and you cant afford it, then you will have to find somewhere else. too much trouble

[cuteguy]

What he said!
Canada has been much better option for a while.

For some people, the climate is too cold for part of the year. Australia fares much better with warmer climate, relaxed lifestyle and easy-going culture.

[cuteguy]

If you look around the City at the moment, there are heaps of fully-furnished apartments that have been put up for rent. A lot of them are ex-Airbnb that the owners are now forced to rent out really cheap just to be able to cover their loan repayments.
You can easily get a centrally located fully furnished apartment now for less than $600 per week, and some will even give you weeks of free rent.
My opinion is, this will not last and the owners will probably be forced to sell, triggering a property price crash, but that's another topic!
In the mean time, $600 is roughly equal to 2 nights in a 5 star hotel (or even less!). You get the apartment for 7 days. I mean, depending on the frequency of your punting, or if you have punting buddies, this could be a great option!

The real estate market has been hit hard by the virus pandemic and property values are expected to tumble. Despite this, look at what is happening in the city. George Street cinema is to be demolished to make way for high rise apartments after receiving City of Sydney's approval of two Mirvac development applications to be constructed on the Event Cinema site. The City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore was quoted saying the council was impressed by the plans for the site. Of course it would be and we know the reason. The CBD was very congested prior to the lockdowns. Do we really need more apartments in the city?

[Vader]

Plus people that put their mortgage on ice for a few months are still paying interest on the balance which will cost them as well

[aussiegaigin]

The real estate market has been hit hard by the virus pandemic and property values are expected to tumble. Despite this, look at what is happening in the city. George Street cinema is to be demolished to make way for high rise apartments after receiving City of Sydney's approval of two Mirvac development applications to be constructed on the Event Cinema site. The City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore was quoted saying the council was impressed by the plans for the site. Of course it would be and we know the reason. The CBD was very congested prior to the lockdowns. Do we really need more apartments in the city?

Planning for this development has probably been going on for years. The developers are unlikely to pull the pin because of current crisis. Even if they start now, it will be 2 or 3 years before they are finished. Prices might drop a bit, but reports suggest there are still plenty of cashed up Chinese investors waiting to jump in.

[sporty32]

Airbnb was always a profitable venture and something that I (even me) was planning to do, unfortunately since the virus everything’s collapsed. A lot of people can’t pay their mortgages, but on the other hand it’s true that some banks are being tolerant about money owed.

[GoldfishMan]

Planning for this development has probably been going on for years. The developers are unlikely to pull the pin because of current crisis. Even if they start now, it will be 2 or 3 years before they are finished. Prices might drop a bit, but reports suggest there are still plenty of cashed up Chinese investors waiting to jump in.
If you're referring to that recent property-spruiking article about the surge in Chinese people enquiring about Aussie property, don't think too much about it. That surge could mean a lot of things. It could be people who already have an Aussie property looking to sell; it's normal to check the market if you want to sell. Or it could be people looking for prices to crash before making a move.
Both the above are more likely than what that article hopes we would think, which is somehow miraculously Chinese buyers now want to buy overpriced Aussie property, in the middle of all this negative global sentiment.

[asiafever]

There has been a slight hit to prices (purchase) but nothing like the Armageddon predicted. If vendors don't look like getting what they wanted they just withdraw unless they are desperate. Units have dropped a little but units were headed that way anyway. Now that open homes and auctions are back on, properties are moving again. 3 out of 5 places I looked at on the weekend went under contract after their 1st open. If your property is reasonably priced and presents well it will move. I am referring to the suburbs obviously, but it's the same story from Box Hill to Rooty Hill, Wetherill Park, Fairfield, all the way to Liverpool and everywhere in between.

[rooter]

Its definitely a renters market right now which is not the norm, especially in recent times.
No Immigrants, no tourists, no international students etc.on the demand side.
Newly built apartments and ex-AirBNB on the supply side.
It will be even more of a renters market in a few months time when Jobseeker, Jobkeeper runs out.
So if you are renting start looking at moving.
You can get a similar place for less than you are paying now or a better place for the same money.
If you are too lazy to move then just bluff your agent/landlord.
Tell them you are moving, and chances are they will reduce your rent or give you a few weeks free rent.
You can't lose.
And if they call your bluff then fuck them! Move to a nicer and cheaper place.
Its not often renters have bargaining power so use it while you can.
Same principle applies to your mobile phone, internet, electricity, car insurance, home loan, credit card, health insurance etc.
Just ring the cunts up and tell them you are leaving and going to a better deal from a competitor and they will offer you better deal.

[GoldfishMan]

That's exactly what I'm about to do. Moving to a bigger place. I'm interested to see how they will react.
About jobseeker and jobkeeper, if someone had mortgages to service and they were on those payments, you know what that means right? It's basically servicing loans using the dole. Now step back and think a minute how fucked up that is. No bank will ever sell a mortgage to someone on the dole. Now they're forced to swallow all of it.
There's still a lot of spruiking happening in the real-estate sites at the moment, playing on people's wishful thinking. A lot of garbage out there like Chinese investors coming to save the day. Or another one I really like, claiming that the people losing jobs at the moment are just the low paid people so it wouldn't affect property prices because those people don't normally own property anyway. Haha... That's so stupid because those people don't own, they rent! And when they stop renting en masse (go back to family, own country, start with friends, etc), who's going to hurt?

[annintofu]

I agree with comments about upcoming pressure on the housing and rental market.

just want to add a point here: the gov. might reopen faster than anyone had thought possible. just look at the rough way they pushed thru the return-to-school plan, it's absolutely disgusting.

Throwing out all concerns for kids & teachers' safety, all for those folks who are struggling with finding people to look after their kids while they return to work.

Why? it's all about money. schools reopen, more people go back to work, more tax to collect, more traffic help gas stations and refineries and toll collection etc.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if scomo eats his words and finds an excuse to allow overseas students to come in the 2nd half this year, or relax the 14day quarantine requirement to encourage travel. some part of Europe are already making noises like this.

so an alternative development could be a much faster return of business & travel along with ultra low interest rates. we all know how this powerful combination does to housing.

I certainly hope the gov exercise caution and hold our health above business interests, esp. of those shody degree factories and greedy professors.

[linavasilevalina]

The apartment rent is riskier for the owner and for the customer as well. I don't think why in your area the prices for rent are so low. In my opinion, they should be around 1200$, especially if we talk about fully-furnished apartments. I don't like renting apartments if I am on vacation. The most comfortable option for me is staying at Hotel. If I need long-term apartments, I usually buy them after consulting with the professional Mortgage Advice Cambridge (https://cambridgemoneyman.com/) local service. Have a good day!

[aussiegaigin]

Is this about to hit Sydney?:

https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/rental-prices-tipped-to-rise-as-vacancies-hit-multi-year-low-20211206-p59f5e.html

[rooter]

Unfortunately property has become a speculators playground.
I wish these cunts would just stick to shares and casinos and horses and bitcoin and other frivolous shit and not fuck with the roof over people's heads.

[GoldfishMan]

Unfortunately property has become a speculators playground.
I wish these cunts would just stick to shares and casinos and horses and bitcoin and other frivolous shit and not fuck with the roof over people's heads.
Totally agree, bro rooter. There are much better ways to make money than to screw with the livelihood of the next generations.

[studsg]

Unfortunately property has become a speculators playground.
I wish these cunts would just stick to shares and casinos and horses and bitcoin and other frivolous shit and not fuck with the roof over people's heads.Agree. Unless someone at the state / federal level changes the rules, speculating in property is a heavily promoted policy. As that is one of the biggest cash cows for the state coffers - stamp duty.

[cuteguy]

Interest rates will go up soon. They can't stay low indefinitely. Many people have gone in to purchase property with loans at very low rates. Many are at their maximums and hoping rates won't increase. If rates go up I don't know how many will survive with repayments.

[GoldfishMan]

Interest rates will go up soon. They can't stay low indefinitely. Many people have gone in to purchase property with loans at very low rates. Many are at their maximums and hoping rates won't increase. If rates go up I don't know how many will survive with repayments.

Are we talking about official RBA rates or retail bank rates?

See, in this world there are doves and then there are hawks. Take a look at Phil Lowe. Does he look more like a dove or a hawk? He's a dove through and through. He has no balls to do what is required of him. He'll be going "Inflation is high, but wages haven't gone up, so I'm gonna keep rates at zero", then "oh, interest rates in every other major economy have gone up, but wages haven't increased enough, still keeping rates at zero", etc etc etc. The end result would be our currency will tank.

Retail rates, on the other hand.... I agree with you, will go up for sure regardless of the official rate. The major banks are already preparing for this situation now. They're slashing variable rates to attract more customers onto their books, but increasing fixed rates at the same time because the outlook for rates is that it will be going up. Higher rates give the lender a higher dollar profit.

[vitrium]

If you look around the City at the moment, there are heaps of fully-furnished apartments that have been put up for rent. A lot of them are ex-Airbnb that the owners are now forced to rent out really cheap just to be able to cover their loan repayments.
You can easily get a centrally located fully furnished apartment now for less than $600 per week, and some will even give you weeks of free rent.
My opinion is, this will not last and the owners will probably be forced to sell, triggering a property price crash, but that's another topic!
In the mean time, $600 is roughly equal to 2 nights in a 5 star hotel (or even less!). You get the apartment for 7 days. I mean, depending on the frequency of your punting, or if you have punting buddies, this could be a great option!

I don't think it will last. Once international students start to flood back in. We'll be back to square one. With 5 people living in small 1-2 bedroom apartments in the city. Paying WAY too much in rent.

Pre-covid I had a friend who was living in a 2 bedroom place in Zetland. It was $1000/week for a modern 2 bedroom apartment in ZETLAND! Of all places. That area is so over supplied with apartments, and people were still willing to pay ridiculous rents just to secure a place.