realestate.com.au (News Corp Australia) | Investor Surge for SA Land Squeezes First-Home Buyers

SA Investor Land Sales Triple, Squeezing First-Home Buyers

Journalist Lauren Ahwan reported for realestate.com.au (News Corp Australia) on new figures showing a sharp rise in investor activity across South Australia's land market. According to Oliver Hume's latest market update, land sales to investors nearly tripled in a single month, rising to 38.1 per cent in June from 12.9 per cent in May, following the federal budget's negative gearing changes.

SA Land Market Under Pressure

South Australia's already limited supply of vacant land has compounded the impact of rising investor demand, with Adelaide region land prices up more than 30 per cent over the past year. Oliver Hume chief economist Matt Bell described the growth as "extraordinary," noting that increased investor competition for land is likely to keep upward pressure on prices in a market that is already supply-constrained.

Agents on the ground are seeing the shift first hand. Ray White Semaphore's Heather Montemayor reported even investor and owner-occupier interest in a compact Ethelton block set for auction, with investor buyers indicating a willingness to pay in the low-$300,000 range, attributing the strength in demand to the federal budget's negative gearing changes.

What It Means for First-Home Buyers

Mr Bell expects the share of investor land purchases to keep climbing in the months ahead, though he does not anticipate investors will outnumber owner-occupiers in the land market. He pointed to supply as the key driver of future price growth, noting that without an increase in land availability, price pressure will persist to the detriment of first-home buyers.

Mr Bell also identified a partial offset for owner-occupiers: as some investors redirect their focus from established homes to new land and house-and-land packages, more established properties are becoming available to buyers who would otherwise be competing with those investors, easing pressure in that segment of the market even as it increases in the land market.

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