Should I Upgrade to a Bigger or Better Home Now, or Wait?

If you have outgrown your current home, waiting for the ‘perfect’ time to make your next move can feel like a safe option before you start searching for a new one.

Upgrading is one of those decisions where looking only at what your own home might sell for can hide the bigger opportunity. In Rockhampton and Central Queensland, the question is not necessarily whether prices are rising or softening.

It is what is happening to the gap between the home you own and the home you want.

Why a softer upper market can help upgraders

Rockhampton is still cost-effective when compared to other parts of the country. If you have a budget of over $1 million, you should have the opportunity to secure a dream home with beautiful modern interiors, stylish heritage features and space for the whole family. 

Buy at the higher end of the market and you’ll get more land and more features, and potentially also expansive, sweeping views. Compare this to renovating your existing home, which may give you an extra room or living area, or even an additional storey, but won’t do anything to change the size of your block or location. 

The thing about the top end of the market is that it is usually what softens first. If you have your eye on a stunning ‘forever home’, this means now could be a good time. 

Note: You’ll have to do your research; many suburbs are holding very strong, even amidst talk of things slowing down. 

Focus on the price gap

Imagine your current home softens in value by $20,000. On its own, that sounds like a reason to wait to upgrade.

But if the larger home you want becomes $60,000 more negotiable during the same period, the change may actually leave you in a better position.

That is why upgraders need two appraisals in their heads: what your current property can realistically achieve and what buyers are currently paying for the type of home you want next. The smaller the gap between those numbers becomes, the more exciting an upgrade can be.

Both figures need to be current. A valuation from twelve months ago tells you very little about what buyers are willing to pay today.

Buying established has another advantage

There is also the build versus buy question.

Right now, construction costs remain elevated in Australia. Housing rose by 5% in the 12 months to July due to rising costs for new dwellings, with new dwellings prices rising 5.7% in the 12 months to July after builders passed on higher costs for materials and labour.

That can make established homes with larger blocks, pools, sheds, landscaping and high-end finishes difficult to reproduce from scratch at the same total cost. An existing property may therefore offer more value than its headline purchase price suggests.

Timeframes are worth factoring in as well, because a new build still has to be designed, approved and completed before you can move in.

Want to upgrade in Rockhampton or on the Capricorn Coast? Work through the numbers first

Before upgrading to a new home in Frenchville, on the Range or on a larger lifestyle property a little further out from central Rockhampton, find out:

• What could my current home realistically sell for?
• What are properties that match my idea brief actually selling for?
• Is the price gap widening or narrowing?
• Would renovating or extending deliver the same result as buying a new place?
• What would a comparable new build cost?
• How much financial breathing room do I want after the move?

There is no blanket answer to whether now is the right time to upgrade in Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast, but if you are only watching the value of your current home, you may be missing half the calculation.

Want to talk property values and find out what’s coming up for sale? Connect with Todd Brandon and the team at The Agency CQ.