City exodus for land and lifestyle

OVER the past year, there has been a rapid change in the way South Australians live and work which has led to strong growth in the property market.

Many buyers have been looking to the Adelaide Hills which offers an idyllic lifestyle while still being close enough to the CBD to allow for daily commuting. Ray White Woodside principal Angus Campbell, who specialises in selling rural and lifestyle properties throughout provincial South Australia, said he has embraced this dramatic spike in demand.“It’s the perfect storm, with stock levels low and record demand. It is the best vendor market we have seen this millennium,” Mr Campbell said."Demand from city dwellers looking to escape closed quarters, cashed up national and international expats coming back to our state's safe haven coupled with low interest rates and the acceptance of flexible work from home arrangements has led to buyers doing whatever it takes for the luxury of lifestyle and rural living."Lifestyle properties and primary production holdings have proven incredibly popular this year with notably quick sales at both 142 Clisby Road, Oakbank (pictured above) for $1,770,000 and 63 Swamp Road, Balhannah (pictured below).

The Ray White Woodside office also set a record price for Mount Torrens, selling the 67ha 17 Barton Springs Lane (pictured below) for $2,025,000. The property was snapped up quickly for farming purposes thanks to its agricultural attributes, proximity to Adelaide and its significant water security which continues to add value to farming properties.“Most of these property’s land holdings are above the ‘lifestyle property’ size and edging more into primary production. The majority have sold after being on the market for less than 30 days with 40 per cent of our stock selling prior to hitting the open market,” Mr Campbell said.“These rural and lifestyle properties are generally tightly held, only swapping hands on average every 10 to 12 years. Most often these properties only sell when owners are retiring or finalising family estates.”

Mr Campbell added that in the current market however, he is now starting to see property owner’s sell to capitalise on the price surge.“In some recent cases we have been approached by vendors that bought within the past two years wishing to capitalise on the recent gains,” he said.“It is an incredible market the likes of which we have not seen since John Howard introduced the First Home Owner Grant in the early 2000's. We don't know how long it will last but we do know through experience that it won't last forever.”