CASINO DRAWS THOSE LONGING TO RETURN HOME
The Northern Rivers town of Casino is popular with those returning to their roots and has good investment opportunities, according to Mark Formaggin.
"Properties in Casino have gone up, but it hasn’t reached the dizzy unstable heights of other markets," the Principal of First National Real Estate Casino said.
"We never see the huge highs and lows, and large measurable falls you see in other areas."
Mr Formaggin said that while the area is seeing more listings, there’s definitely not the urgency there was three months ago.
"it's a much more classical market, but there hasn't been a price drop," he said. "We're meeting vendors expectation, but properties are spending more time on the Market. During COVID, it was days on the market and it's now week, which is still acceptable"
Mr Formaggin said Casino holds a special place for those who have previously lived or worked there.
"We see lots of people moving back here - re-establishing themselves and working in and around Northern Rivers." he said "They have a connection to the area, and having family and friends in town is the number one reason to move to Casino"
According to Mr Formaggin, the market went up 20 per cent across the board during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this has stabilised since the end of January this year.
The median house price now ranges from $450,000 to $460,000 and the median unit price is $280,000 to $300,000," he said.
"We're seeing interest from first home buyers who are younger couples in their early to late 20s. They can't quite afford to live in Lismore or on the coast, which is 40 minutes away, and Byron is only one hour away.
"There are many projects on the drawing board, and the local council has been proactive about development."
Mr Formaggin said Casino is a very easy place to live and working from home has become accessible due to changed working practices because of the CVOVID-19 pandemic.
"We haven't got everything, but we're within easy reach of the Gold Coast, which is less than two hours away, and we have access to sporting facilities for golf, tennis and cricket."
Mr Formaggin said he expects the market to continue to steady, but there will be good buys for some people if they have been following the local market.
HULL, H. 2022. REINSW REAL ESTATE JOURNAL SEP-OCT 2022. CASINO draws those longing to return home. (37)