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Tania Houston and Damien Roland moved into their new Adelaide Hills homes with their daughter Delilah last month. Picture: Keryn Stevens
The Cherry Gardens bushfire hasn’t deterred househunters from rushing to the Adelaide Hills, with local agents reporting demand for homes in the area is the strongest it has been in years.
They say the limited number of properties on the market are attracting multiple offers and many are selling fast, despite recent fires serving as a stark reminder of the risks associated with living in the region.
Williams Real Estate agent Dee-Anne Hunt said people looking to live in the Hills understood the risk.
But with technology enabling fast updates and the importance of preparation widely publicised, she said many people didn’t let the potential of a bushfire stop them from living in one of SA’s most beautiful regions.
“That hasn’t affected our market at all,” she said.
“We’ve seen really healthy numbers that we probably haven’t seen for a number of years.”
Ms Hunt said local buyers taking advantage of the strong market, people from the city looking for a treechange, and expats were driving the strong demand.
“The interstate interest is like we’ve never had before and that’s because now they can work from anywhere,” she said.
“We’ve got this endless number of expats looking to come home too.”
Harris Real Estate agent Arabella Hooper said many homeowners in the area were hesitant to list their properties for sale because they were worried they wouldn’t find another to move to.
“There are so many buyers and still not enough houses for them,” she said.
“We’re receiving anywhere from six to 20 offers on a property.”
Harcourts Adelaide Hills agent Sam Oborn recently put a property on the market that attracted 25 inquiries within the first 12 hours.
Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills. Picture: realestate.com.au
He said many keen buyers were also asking to see properties before they hit the market.
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“Househunters are seeing value for money and don’t have to work in the office anymore, or much less,” he said.
“I can definitely see it running like this for the next six months at this point in time.”
Tania Houston and Damien Rowland moved from Adelaide’s western suburbs to Hahndorf with their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Delilah last month.
Looking for a lifestyle change and unable to travel overseas, they turned to the Adelaide Hills.
“We had looked at moving slightly closer to the beach and the prices there were really skyrocketing,” she said.
“Because we’d been looking for such a long time, we knew what we wanted.”
After having a couple of their offers turned down due to subject-to-sale conditions, the couple sold their house before snapping up their new one at Hahndorf shortly after it hit the market.
“We wanted to do that to put us in the best position to buy,” Ms Houston said.
They said the risk of a bushfire wasn’t enough to stop them from living in the beautiful area.