“(Due to COVID) there was an influx of city-based buyers moving to regional areas including the Nambucca Valley and this had the effect of raising prices,” according to David Winton from NV Property, a real estate professional with some 20 years’ experience in the Nambucca Valley.

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“Since this time, the level of enquiry from these types of buyers has steadied but there has only been a minimal reduction in prices,” he told News Of The Area.

This period saw lifestyle buyers increase, he said, but these types of sales mainly applied to smaller acreage properties within close proximity of towns.

The Nambucca Valley has predominantly rural acreage in its make-up and many landholders use their land for some type of agricultural purpose.

According to the Nambucca Valley Council, the region’s agriculture brought in over $47 million in the 2020/21 period. Meat and dairy contributed a combined total of more than $20 million to this, while fruit accounted for close to $18 million.

Most farmers NOTA spoke to agree that profit margins are tighter than they have ever been across all industries.

As at 2017, the Valuer General NSW reported that by far the majority of value in properties in the Nambucca region was in residential zones, over $1 billion, or approximately double the value of rural properties.

All values have significantly increased since then but overall, incomes have not kept pace.

According to OECD data for the twelve months to June 2023, “Australian households suffered the largest fall in living standards of any advanced economy over the past year,” said economic correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Michael Read last November.

Factors contributing to this are inflation, high interest rates and the large proportion of Australian mortgages on variable interest rates, Mr Read went on to explain.

It is also helpful to understand the make-up of the community when considering how these issues affect the attitudes of Nambucca Valley residents.

According to the 2021 Census (Australian Bureau of Statistics), the average household income in the Nam
bucca Valley was $976 compared to $1829 for NSW and $1746 nationally.
The Nambucca Valley was a slightly top-heavy community in terms of age with about 58 percent of people over 50.

42 percent were married and most children attended public schools.

Most residents had never been to university, only 12.9 percent had, compared to a national average of around 26 percent.

7.4 percent identified as Aboriginal and most people said they were either of English or Australian descent.

Over 80 percent were born here.

A large proportion worked in community and personal service, around 16 percent, approximately six percent higher than the rest of the state.

48 percent of Nambucca Valley residents responded that they were not in the workforce.

Almost 17 percent of respondents did some voluntary work for an organization within the year and this was about four percent above the rest of the state.

Compared to both national and state averages, more residents said they were unpaid carers for those with disabilities or the elderly.

The region was also sicker than the rest of the state with rates of cancer, dementia, arthritis, heart disease, depression and in fact all categories identified on the census, significantly higher than the state or national average.

By Ned COWIE