Is the holiday home boom over? Gerroa house sold for same price as three years ago

A home in a sought-after South Coast spot has fetched the same price as its previous sale three years ago.

The Gerroa property took several months to change hands — a reflection of the normalising of the once red-hot market.

However, according to CoreLogic, the median sales price of houses in Gerroa remains a hefty $2.055 million.

The four-bedroom home at 94 Crooked River Road, Gerroa sold for $2.85 million last week.

Situated above the Crooked River estuary, the home offers panoramic views, and includes a gas fireplace, gourmet kitchen, swim spa, and a dedicated media room.

CoreLogic records show the home sold after 198 days on the market.

Records also show the home previously sold in August 2021 for $2.85 million.

The latest selling agent, Craig Higbid from South Coast Prestige Properties said the home had a price guide of $2.7 million to $2.9 million.

The property was sold to a Sydney-based buyer who planned to utilise it as a weekender.

Mr Higbid said homes in Gerroa seemed to be taking longer to sell in recent times.

According to CoreLogic, figures for Gerroa show that in homes sold over the past 12 months, the median number of days on the market was 100 days, up from a median of just 17 days on the market in April 2022 (the month before rates started to rise).

CoreLogic figures also show that the longer selling time has occurred as listing volumes across the region have risen.

Although only 15 homes were on the market in July this year, through the height of the upswing there were consistently fewer than five homes on the market.

“Gerroa is a very weekender (driven) market; there’s a lot of investors who have weekenders or Airbnbs there,” Mr Higbid said.

“I feel the holiday bookings have dropped off... The market’s just not there for that little demographic, that little pocket.

“That’s generally driven by Sutherland Shire and Eastern Suburbs buyers.

“[During COVID] it was ticking over very quickly, but when the heat comes out of that market, it comes out of the market.”

CoreLogic records show there has been a series of sales in Gerroa so far in 2024, with the highest being $3.5 million.

The property market in the seaside town exploded during the past few years; so much so that during the pandemic, prices in the suburb more than doubled.

However, after the COVID-influenced boom, prices there had taken a six-figure hit on average.

Ryan Stalgis from First National Coast and Country, who regularly sells homes in Gerroa, said holiday bookings there had dropped off.

He said this was influenced by factors such as cost of living affecting some holiday-goers, while others were preferring to head overseas for holidays.

“However, it’s very seasonal on the South Coast, so we’d expect holiday bookings to pick up as the weather gets warmer,” he said.

Mr Stalgis said some homes in Gerroa were staying on the market for a number of months, which “was completely at odds compared to when the market was booming”.

“We’ve seen a reduced pool of buyers, but there are still buyers out there... And we’ve seen some properties bought during COVID being re-sold now at a similar price.

“The market is still in a strong position, stronger than it was pre-COVID, but it has normalised.”

Meanwhile, Craig McIntosh is managing director of The Holidays Collection, who manage dozens of holiday properties in Gerroa.

Mr McIntosh said he felt that following the boom during the pandemic, holiday rental bookings in Gerroa had perhaps now returned to pre-COVID levels.

“Properties there that are well-presented, well photographed and have some character, are largely maintaining their bookings,” he said.

“I’m hearing anecdotally that some other properties aren’t getting the holiday rental income the owners expected, perhaps not due to being as high quality, or they didn’t look at the pre-COVID numbers for holiday rentals before buying. And so they’re now being changed over to permanent rentals.

“And during COVID, sales in Gerroa went crazy, so it’s not surprising that’s come back a little.”