Sales up but prices down
LATELY there has been a lot of talk about mini housing — the increasingly popular housing option of shrinking blocks and home sizes to the very bare minimum.
Recently, a new land subdivision of this kind caused public outcry, animosity and disgust. Why is it that unless you are in the most urban or central of locations, it is just not considered acceptable to build small on very small parcels of land?
In my view, it is a far greater crime to build big on a very small parcel of land.
Let’s be honest; many home owners would be happy to stay in their suburb, with less garden and in a smaller home, but not in a complex or unit. Numerous first home buyers don’t want or need four bedrooms two bathrooms and cannot afford it. Landlords, tenants and many honeymooner would all like more choice in type and size of housing within all areas.
But typically the choice is either a unit, a townhouse or the full-blown freestanding home on 400 to me2 blocks.
In this particular instance, the blocks were less than me2 and not in an urban location. The complainants expressed concerns regarding narrow streets and limited parking — high density without infrastructure.
I do sympathise with those complaining, but don’t blame just the developers; blame the council and the town planners too.
Unit complexes and townhouses are designed as a whole — they have a community title allowing for control over design and architecture, maintenance, car-parking and security, so this form of high-density housing works very well for many.
However, with tiny individual blocks, there are many dangers and concerns that need addressing. Councils should never allow increased density without careful thought. That done, the next thing is the aesthetics, the comfort of the future residents, security, privacy and the desirability of the area.
When ‘‘we’’, the development advocates, let ‘‘you’’ the home-building public loose on blocks of land in a new estate, some of you don’t choose designs and materials suitable for the surroundings.
There are multiple examples of poorly selected house designs and too AN increase of 6.2 per cent in house sales across the state in the September quarter is revealed in the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania’s 2012 summary for that period.
However, Hobart experienced an 8.1 per cent drop in median house price, falling to $340,000.
The average time to sell a house increased by two days to 79 and the top five most expensive suburbs were revealed to be Sandy Bay ($640,000), Acton Park ($606,500), Mt Stuart ($440,000), New Town ($440,000) and Granton ($425,000).
The most affordable places were: Queenstown ($100,000), Ravenswood ($141,000), Railton ($143,000), Primrose Sands ($151,500) and Risdon Vale ($181,000).
The number of first-time home buyers increased slightly for the quarter, accounting for 18 per cent of sales across the state. The median house price for them was $237,500.
LAST week was a massive one for new million-dollar listings – 10 Tasmanian properties with an asking price of more than $1,000,000 went on the market.
Of the approximately 8781 properties currently for sale in the state, 160 have a six-figure price tag.
Qew Orchards in Campania ($4,500,000), is among the new multimillion dollar listings.
It comprises two houses, a 32ha much emphasis on building big rather than building well!
With extremely small block sizes there is no room for errors!
To avoid this, councils and developers need to take control. A new type of housing option is and should be encouraged because the freestanding home on a small block can only work with well thought-out designs that apricot orchard and a further 87ha of land suitable for grazing sheep and cattle.
Circa 1890s sandstone residence The Rest in Princes St Sandy Bay is listed by Charlotte Peterswald for Property at $1,200,000 plus.
And expect to pay $1,320,000 for a 1202m2 block of land in St Helens that fronts the open public space that meets Colchis Creek.
NOWthat mortgage repayments are cheaper than paying rent in 30 Tasmanian suburbs, it is an ideal time for renters to re-enter the market or buy their first home.
Market analysis by RP Data has focus on use, practicality and aesthetics. And such an approach needs to be part of a broader plan.
Such plans need to be part of houseand-land packages or strict guidelines including materials, window positions, heights, colours, allowances for greenery/privacy and adequate car parking and storage in those places where a buyer can build it revealed that Herdsmans Cove is the top suburb where paying a mortgage is more affordable than paying rent, based on principal and interest repayments on a variable home loan.
The median monthly rent is $943, compared to paying a mortgage on a house with the median value of $137,000, which comes in at $211 a month less.
There were similar results in Chigwell, Risdon Vale, Gagebrook and Bridgewater in the south and Ravenswood, Rocherlea, Zeehan, Queenstown and Hillcrest in the north.
To see if your suburb made it visit: www.myrp.com.au/buyorrent themselves.
Would I buy a tiny block to build a home on? Yes, but only if I knew and could guarantee what and how the other homes around me would look like. Otherwise it really could be a mini disaster!
Andrew Winter is a real estate consumer champion and the host of
on The LifeS-