Harry Kumer, Welcome to Property in Sites.

Thanks for having me all the way from Tasmania.

Yeah, two hours away.

Wow.

Yeah.

And you're a director and an agent obviously real estate agent or an agent at Peter's Wald Hobart is now I say Peters w Peterswald.

Yeah, yeah, that Peter's World.

Or is that a surname for somebody?

It is a surname of somebody.

I think the origin is German.

Yeah, it sounds like I could be wrong, but yeah, Peter's Wold.

And is that a that's a residential agent and or commercial agent.

I'm just residential in gob Yeah, twenty years, primary residential real estate agency in the last twelve months now rentals as.

Well, right, it's Renabook.

Yeah, but that's fresh on the scene, so prominently known for me middle to higher end sales throughout Hobart.

I'd like to think if you have a nice property in the greater Hobart area that we would be on the shopping list.

Yeah.

I thought it's such a vendors.

Yeah.

Absolutely, Well that's what you had to talk about.

So what part of that is I can't I can't, I can't believe this, but recognized you that as you recognized last last year twenty twenty four by real estate dot com dot Tasmanian in Tasmanian Agent of the Year.

Yes, congratulations, thank you named rate my agent's top sales Agent Tasmania twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, Yes, twenty five.

Yeah, well who knows?

When's that February next year?

Okay?

Yes, it's a year in arrears, so to speak.

That's mad like gone off awards here, Like what does it take to get those awards?

Is it based on a number of transactions or total volume dollars or or around?

Good guy, Well, there's a couple of different ones, and they're probably a good thing to chat about and just put on blast in a way that I smile today when you know you get them all reeled off and I think, here we go, all these awards and it's just there was a moment in time where they were really important to me and now in.

A way, now you've got them.

Yeah.

I suppose, like most things, like once once you've got them more or hunted or achieved them, then they potentially mean less.

I shouldn't equally take any acclaim away from them, and that as as an agency in myself, like I worked hard to achieve them.

The wrote my agent one is a good one because it is consumer based.

It's not about a proposal.

It is, but it is it is an algorithm that we don't know the back end to, but it is a total number of sales reviews achieved for the sales from the vendor point of view, not the buyer yep.

And then total total volume of sales and lucky enough just to be on top for a few years now.

And what about is that that's based.

On a newer award.

I think it's been running now for two years and that also seems to be its own algorithm.

But I'm not in touch enough to understand how they do it, but it seems to be relatively fair, Like when you look at the outcome, I've got a lot of great colleagues back home, not not just at our agency, but who art realist that agents, I'd argue a relatively good people.

And when you look at the list, I suppose I feel fairly comfortable that the list feels somewhat accurate in terms of like reasonable people and good operators.

Well, congratulations, I love to know what you think it is that actually you do that works for you?

I was, I was thinking about this, and I don't know if I've got the silver bullet in terms of it's not necessarily just one thing in particular.

I think early on it was it was probably like work ethic.

I think watching my parents and how they how they applied themselves every day in terms of like the effort that they put in, and I think that translated well to me for real estate, and that I didn't have a plan.

B.

This was it for me.

Make that work.

You've got it.

Yeah, I got to make and enjoyed it too.

Every day.

Loved the hunt, the chase.

It wasn't tiring, even though the sort of the effort that was put in was significant.

But then I suppose I reflect it, it's almost like a marathon in that is just like when you look back, it's like, oh wow, I've been chipping away client by client, just focused on relationships and people and a transaction, and then you look back it's like, oh wow, there's a thousand of them now and a thousand relatively positive transactions.

I suppose accumulate to something at the end.

But I don't know if it's a particular particular element of sorts.

And you talk about vendors of course, yeah, a thousand transactions for vendors who are your clients.

Yes, but you obviously make relationships with the purchaser to Becasultimately there's got to be a purchaser.

But those indoors when they as part of your game, is getting repeat work.

So many of those thousands transactions coming from you know, people over and over again.

Yeah, absolutely, yeah, and I think if you speak to many agents, but to get easier over time, Yeah, the longer that you play our game, the easy that it gets.

If you're a reasonable operator, yeah I should add that.

But if you're a reasonable person, the longer that you play, the easier that it gets.

That you've just built long lasting, trusting connection and that's that's it's actually, I suppose more enjoyable these days because you get phone calls from people that you actually love.

I think, oh, like, these are beautiful people.

I can't wait to help them again.

And it's not about commissions of dollar figures anymore.

It's about them and their journey and maybe there's some secrets in that.

Do you give in contact with everybody?

I mean you can't.

There's thousand of people but you couldn't ring a thousand in a week, but do.

You as best I can.

Yeah, I've felt the strain over the last three years, more so of trying to keep on top of everything.

But there would if you know, three years ago, perhaps if you asked me about a transaction or a person.

I again, perhaps a bit element of luck, but I just happened to just know I could pick them on the street and introduce myself and remember the connection, and just it would come to me.

And that's probably just time in the saddle fifteen years of doing one thing.

I suppose you, actually you keep reasonable at something, you will.

Probably be able to use AI at some stage where at the mcluander will say, you know, this is Mark Boris's say, is one of your begers.

It's his birthday and would you like would you like me to write a nice note to Mark?

And we have a the AI agent might review the notes in your file going back ten years.

It says Mark's got three kids, two or just being born, his wife Mary lou, he loves this, that, and the other football teams this, and then AI might be able to write you a beautiful email and you can just prove it and.

Send it off absolutely, and I think that's not far off.

Well, and is it even honest?

I remember looking at it is honest.

It's your information.

If it's trained on your data.

Yeah, sure understood.

Because there is there is a platform that is out there.

I think it's called Rita, and Rita this is before even AI and they were it's this theory and it's like, wow, how does that even work?

How does that happen?

And now it's been I suppose Rita was an early form of AIL as a product that does something like this, but these days it would be so much more refined.

As in your voice, oh wow, even that AO.

Can put in your voice.

Again, we play remember Little all the time, but AO can do it in your voice.

It'll use your language.

It's going to learn your language.

I'll learn you from your notes and it'll see how you how you write notes and scary, over time, it might listen to a speech you've made and it can it can train it on everything about you, and all of a sudden, it's got Harry.

It's Harry Koomber's voice.

And you know, you could even make a digital twin of yourself and you you could set a message to your digital twin.

But that's still about Hobart.

Now, it's still about Tasmania House, Tasmani going as a state in terms of because I have read some stats in Tasmani prisive sort of not grown as much as the rest of the country.

No, no, So we're we're obviously a huge COVID post COVID boom.

Yeah, we were from the graphs that I look at and educate my clients on.

But we were the pretty estate.

We were a safe state.

We're a happy state.

Someone who escapes to absolutely, and we had a lot of that, had a lot of people returning home, like a lot of Tasmanians leave and then they return home once they've found their feet, so it's a common path.

So we saw a lot of that, and then a lot of people obviously feeling the past of what COVID was doing and then naturally wanted to escape that.

So we were a safe haven, which obviously then prices boomed.

Perhaps we would due something to that degree, but nothing that obviously we could predict to that magnitude.

And then it's flipped back the other way it.

Has and then equally the counter obviously reaction of that is that the markets have been hit significant I think one of the hardest.

When you look at the annualized property track graphs, you can see that we hit the bottom and we didn't bounce that far either.

A lot of the other capital city seem to recover a bit quicker than us, and we've been probably trying to get our way out of that over the last eighteen months to two years.

What are we now, like seven point three percent still behind our peak where other capital cities are still chasing their peak.

Could I ask you this question, does that mean when you say some point three percent behind your peak?

Prices on average in Tasmania are some point does that mean there's point three percent cheaper than they were when during the peak?

Correct prices have gone down.

Prices are down by seven point three percent.

And if you you would know better than anybody.

But if you were just strate I mean, obviously seven with three is an average.

So if you were to stratify that, is it at the top end or the bottom end, or the middle end or everywhere?

I would say everywhere?

Yeah, But is it more prevalent?

Say like, does it mean that if it's average seventy three the bottoms two point could be two point three, the top could be twelve point three.

Therefore the averages were three legs it like that, or is that sort of seven point three in every category.

It would be the the first of the equations that you described, I would imagine.

Greater greater percentage of the top end.

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, So that's that's interesting.

And so does it mean that there would you consider there's bargains sort of in.

No, I don't think so.

Perhaps it's all relative to what we needed equally, as in like we were a cheap state.

I think that for that.

Yeah, and now coming off a load base.

Correct, so we've played a bit of a bit of catch up.

But then equally we've come back a bit.

But then if you look at the five year growth, we're up thirty six percent.

So when we talk about like we cheap, no, we still had a great boom.

And the prices now what medium?

So our prices is this is for Hobart in general, but I think house dwelling house six sixty five, I think it is.

Our agency's average is about nine fifty nine hundred nine fifty.

So it's a it's a touch different, and that's because we're based in Hobart and naturally service the closest suburbs to the city within a forty five minute drive essentially.

So there's not that many units in hobo tho the well.

Not high rises.

Yeah, yeah, certainly.

You know, obviously coming to Sydney today and you look up, there's a lot to see.

Hobarts are just a small piece you've been, I'm sure.

Yeah, there's not much there.

And in way of development too, there's there's not a heat happening either in comparison to other capital cities.

What about if someone is buying some of from the mainland, for example, is buyers a place in Hobart, what are the chances of rent renting and Hobart legas Hobart a good rental place for an investor.

Yeah, rental demand is reasonable at the moment, so if you within reason.

But if you've bought a property anywhere around Hoe But if if you're if you're asking price is fair for rent, it will it will be rentable.

But do you say it's like a five percent a year?

What sort of fair.

Let's say start in the city perhaps four to four and a half and then work as far out as perhaps Glenorky and then what is that maybe like six six and a half.

Oh, you get a better yield further out.

Further out you go.

Yeah, prices are cheaper, but rents a hold.

Up ye a bit?

Yeah, okay.

So and because if you go to Adelaida's Legs zero percent vacancy rate has been for years for a whole lot of reasons.

City is too probably.

The most one point eight.

Yeah, it's close enough.

It was Hobart at one point.

Yeah, it was still very low.

Yeah.

So land tax in does Meania?

Absolutely?

Yeah?

Is it as bad as Victoria?

I'm Victoria's fifty thousand dollars.

After the first fifty thousand dollars on improved value of the land, you started paying land tax.

Sure, I would hate to comment.

I'm not sure of, but I know we've got land tax and it's not pretty.

Yeah, people aren't comfortable with land tax.

In Hobart there's uproar and.

You get an exemption if it's you're if you're on an occupier.

Absolutely, yeah, no land what's stamp duty?

Which is stamp duty?

You pay stamped it's about four percent a little bit higher than New South Wales.

Sure mind you your purchabos lower.

Yeah.

Yeah, and then we've got concessions.

Of course, first home buyers can avoid stamp duty by buying under seven fifty, right, Yeah, it's a key in the market, which.

Would be quite a lot of property.

Yeah, yeah, would be.

Yeah, I'm not not in the likes of Sandy Bay, Battery Point Meetings, our price there is beyond that.

You're not buying your first time there, but a good suburb Linda's Varnhauer.

You're certainly buying under seven fifty or three bedroom, one bathroom brick home.

Wow.

Yeah, there's not been place in Australia that you can do that.

No, I think we're still very lucky.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And in terms of employment unemployment like just generally speaking, is is Tasmania generally or maybe let's just look at Hobart, just Hobart doing well, like is economically do you think Philla's doing well?

What's the vibe?

What do people the vibe feels you try to I've been a round doing what I'm doing for fifteen odd years.

Has it watched a few things?

I would say that the hope, Yeah, the Hobart vibe is is good.

It's not We're not.

There's a lot of talk about this stadium.

Everyone wants to talk about.

So that was an election promise.

So so did the one who made the election promise about the stadium win?

So you're going to get the stadium.

It's still on everyone's lips.

I'm not sure.

Yeah, it changes important, do you it feels important?

It depends for real estateum to about Oh, I think it feels good for real estate.

Yeah, I think from a real estate point of view, it's good.

And it was with the state.

You get a team absolutely, yeah.

Yeah, without a really without a esteem, you don't get a team.

I understand it.

There was comments to say though that we could have a team without a stadium as well.

And there's there's people in that boat too, that one team with no stadium.

I don't want to their words, but waste the money on that.

But yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll stay on the fence.

Yeah.

So if Tasmania to me, every time I go there always is busy, my money hanging out hobud.

But there's always a lot of tourists, like tourism still, especially this time of Yeah.

I think it's the events though, the events event driven here.

Yeah, like you come down at when dark Mofo is on at the winter face, it is noticeably different.

There is a harm and a vibe to Salamanca and the city.

There is just things happening that that we're not accustomed to.

And then I think of summer periods as well, with cruise ships.

Our office were blessed.

We're in Salamanca, like right in the heart.

Yeah, where ships dock and you walk out for coffee and you go, okay, there's a boat in.

It's pretty good.

It's heaving, Yeah, yeah it is.

It is cool.

Yeah, yeah it is.

But you feel it season seasonally, you could.

I don't think there's any current events on in Hobe, but you go down to Salamanca today and it almost might feel.

A little differences.

There's always We've held a few down there actually about my business, the al Gro.

We've been down the three times, at least three big events.

We saw the hotel down I don't know what direction is, but towards the bridge.

So the hotel down there.

Our Grand Grand Chancellor.

Yeah, yeah, it's in the heart of three four hundred people up there.

Sometimes because my gut feeling is that Tasmania is quite a vibrant place.

Like economically, it just seems to be busy.

Things seem to be humming along quite well.

I mean, you're obviously doing quite well in terms of real estate prices.

Where do you see real estate continuing to grow and demand growing?

Yeah?

I like our populations part of that conversation too, And there isn't much growth happening there.

Really, people aren't moving to Tasmania live.

No.

No.

I was looking up some of the some of the data supporting it, but it's like, it's awful.

Really, we've hovered, we've hovered out five hundred and fifty odd thousand for the last like five six years.

But it hasn't changed a great deal.

That's certainly not supporting the notion of much more growth.

I think.

I think interest rates seem to move the needle a touch you do to that, yeah, yeah, and you can see that in the thirteen rate rises.

It didn't stop our market, but it hurt our market and there was that adjustment period to recover.

And then since we've seen or is it now reductions three rate reductions yesterday, yes, the two previous you could you could see a little bit more by confidence showing.

And again it depends on how you speak to I'm I'm sure you're more in the know than I.

But perhaps it's more the feeling of the interest rate reduction than it is actually the outcome of sorts of as to what does that change to their borrowing capacity?

Perhaps not a great deal.

Do you have much supply of new stuff?

We have lots of.

New products, new development?

No, No, I think in a word, we get the odd development.

But no, yeah, there's not a heap of new development happening all the time when you think of high rises and that side of things that there are there are buildings and that are undergone construction as we speak.

But it's not a common path.

So if you own property yourself in doesn't So if you're going to invest, where would you invest in as many?

You know you're in the know, so where would you invest in many?

Well, part of some of the questions that I've I was preparing for today, I was I was noting that the And it was interesting because you sort of you go through the motions of not necessarily understood reading the data daily just to feel and perhaps my gut feel to where the market was.

There was even a little adjusting in my own mind as to how things are traveling talking about regional versus inner city, and that it appears to be that regional regional towns like Brighton, which is what like a thirty thirty five minute drive from the Hobart CD.

Yeah, like it's not.

Origional from here is like six hours.

I know, right, it's it is so different, it's so different the concept.

But a regional suburb like that that has a relatively low medium sururprice, like you buy a unit there for four hundred, perhaps a house for five point fifty, that feels like a safer bet in terms if you wanted something affordable for somebody to jump into near enough guarantee rent, because it'd be affordable rent to somewhere like Brighton would be a good option out of lying something's even like like Rogby Surreal.

There are just suburbs on the outskirts that are still quite affordable.

And would you would you say to somebody look in Tasmania at least if you want to like a safer or more assured resale, you're better buying a house, better buying a juber house than buying a same brain new apartment.

Absolutely, yeah, yeah, I'd find I'd say that the more common correlation with us, maybe due to the lack of apartment purchases.

Might be though, do you buy a little bit closer in there's both houses house in Brighton or a house in Glenorchy, and the house in Glenorky is going to have a slightly lesser yield, but is probably easier to sell.

Why because it's closer in right, closer to Hoey.

Yeah, I'm not sure what the relative suburbs are for you here.

How far out do you have.

To go there?

General thumb here that value is used a bit of If it's more than forty minutes from the CBD in Sydney, it's it's going to have it's going to have like a marginally more trouble selling it.

Sure, So forty minutes seems to be the limit, Yes, okay, so that'll take it probably the paramount past Paramatta closer to Campbelltown, getting close to Campbelltown.

Place on that journey.

Yeah, okay, So it's a distance thing here, it's travel time and travel distance.

Yes, yeah, so forty minutes is probably the distance now, forty minutes and as many as from Hope, it's quite a while way.

Oh it is, And I think, but probably a good segue into a conversation piece around that distance.

So it's really common for us to have somebody from interstate call and their boundaries are so open, which is unusually.

I know instantly that you're not from not from around here, and then there's just way too many options at that point.

There's seventy five thousand homes in the areas that we sell and if they say, oh, we want to be within forty minutes, like, well, that's everything, when I need to like, we need to tighten this up a bit.

Yeah, So it's just it's just different from that point of view.

And what are you experiencing terms of inquiry from in the state.

Did you get as much a growth in the state as you would locally?

I'm not too bad to see vendors, but I'm too a bad bias.

Sure, Well, the stat that supports that, I think it is somewhere between nineteen and twenty percent is interstate purchase at the moment.

Does it come out in New South Wales?

Can you see where it's coming from?

No, we can't see in the data where it's coming from.

Off my head, though it doesn't come from one state in particular.

Right, like I've sold property to everyone from every state.

Yes, absolutely, inquiry comes.

From all over, whether it be investors or a.

Variety, predominantly though on occupy, So people moving there, people moving here.

Yes, that's interesting that.

Because I know a lot of people doing that for South Australia or Adelaide.

Yes, I didn't realize that that was a similar thing for Hobart, and it is this happening in all the other parts of herb like Lawnchestern, like lawn Cestern, et cetera.

It's just just particular what you're talking about to Hobart.

No, the data supports that lawn system has even a stronger desire for mainland interest.

People are more interested in launches.

I would have thought yields because the from from what I don't work in that market, but from what I understand, the purchase price is less again, but you're in the city and the return is stronger.

Again, like greater than five percent.

Yeah, that's what I'm reading.

And whatever the compbal gains I mean is these a lot of times there's sort of an inverse relationship between high yield yes and capital gains.

In other words, the higher the year, the lower the capital gain, and likewise.

That runs true, it runs through and that's that's I think what we're getting up with that Brighton and hypothetical is that if you go out to Brighten, you you will get a better yield, but you'll have to watch that capital gain.

You're banking on it being one of the cheaper properties, as in likes it doesn't get much cheaper then than five hundred thousand dollars for a three bedroom house.

I probably couldn't build one for five hundred thousand leagues right now, Where would you say that is one of the hottest places in real estate?

Where's everybody sort of flocking to at the moment in Hobart, Let's say, I don't think it exists.

There's no one place that really, I don't think so.

I think I was trying to again, I was trying to pick this, but I don't think I think I could find you scenarios that exist for the right property.

But I think because of like just referencing the average suburb size is fifteen hundred homes.

That was a suburb here like eight thousand homes.

So I just think that it doesn't like we could always say, like, oh, Battery Point it's always very popular, but it's like it's right in the heart.

It's a it's a gorgeous historic village on the on the water, but that's I think it almost cliche.

Not everyone can afford that.

And then if it's not battery point.

I don't think there is this in demand hot spot that everyone's talking about that's on everyone's lips.

I just don't think it.

I don't think it exists.

Yeah, where do your tradees live though, because we have areas in syitneyre for example, a place called Leppington for example, that's gone off in the last couple of years because it's convenient.

A lot of trade is there, because there's a lot of work out that way for trades people and people building huge hours that all got cities bends and you know average house like one and a half two million bucks that's at least forty minutes from the CBD.

They probably never come into the CBD, those individuals, they probably will work out that area.

A lot of development going on out there, a lot of near the new airport, et cetera.

That's a really hot area for me, Like it's always rendered.

There's always tenants looking for somewhere to go or somewhere to rent.

So you were saying Hobart at least doesn't sort of experience that.

I don't believe.

So I've done this for fifteen years, and I don't think that even I couldn't even tell you at a moment in time that there was this huge demand for one suburb in particular, And even speaking to colleagues, I don't think that there's I don't think there are those stories.

I think I can think of particular houses at moments in time in a buoyant market that was incredibly popular.

But that's not saying that it's one suburb in particular, even with talk about like Glebe Hill, how like a really robust suburb, one that I referenced a moment ago.

Three bitch and one bathroom house is like seven to seven fifty, good first time buyers, good schools.

Like just a very vanilla but robust suburb, a great spot.

Good place to great place to live.

Absolutely yeah, lived not far from there, like it's an awesome place.

New shopping center went in no noticeable change though in the graphs like it doesn't if anything like some I remember some properties I was trying to sell there were negatively impacted.

Shopping center traffic.

Yeah, this one in particular just bought it like it was just a set of unfortunate circumstances.

But it didn't.

It didn't change it.

If anything, it's just it's kept that particular pocket, just in a slow incline direction.

But when you look at those graphs, it's not like, oh, my goodness, tell me what happened there, And that's a whole new Coles McDonald's medical center.

Yeah, fo all for Hoe, But it's proper if you got your Westfields.

If you put a new shopping center in a suburb, even a new suburb in New South Wales and I can't talk about the other states and New South Wales, prices go twenty percent change within a week or two.

They just go nuts because people take the view I don't want to have to drive them.

I'm happy to walk to the shop center or drive straw a little bit.

There's usually car parking there.

The convenience factor puts price up by twenty percent.

It doesn't this then though, tail back into you're buying Hower.

It's fifteen minutes to the city, so then it's like I don't get here and that's almost the thing.

Then for most suburbs that we're talking like, we're even on out the back.

You have thirty minutes from the city.

If I don't mind, Yeah, I don't care.

Where this oning against eighty five is get to get to the new shopping center because there's only fifty minutes to get the old shopping center.

And perhaps then that's insulating the prices because it actually doesn't matter that much.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

I think it's different.

And then another point two is you could talk to me about this, but the transport when a new rail line gets put in in Sydney, game change.

Well, we don't have that rail We've got metro buses.

Yeah, but again I don't just don't think that's a game changer for us.

I don't know how often metro update there runs or maps, but it's not.

Again, that's just not hot hot topic for buyers of where if anything, you get Mainlanders calling and saying, hey, it is an near a bus stop, but a local just doesn't ask those questions.

Well, but it sounds like to me many from what you're saying, because a lot of those things you're talking about, shopping centers, you're talking about railway stations.

A lot of those things to me, high rise, all reek of business, noise, things that a lot of people try and avoid.

So I would have thought there for her.

But it's a bit of a God's country in that regard for anybody's looking for a sea change or a different type of environment.

By the way, has there been any impact of the massive amounts of migration is my last question for the massive amounts of migration that comes the last three years and continuing to do so.

Has that migration landed up a Tasmania or hope?

But I think it did.

I need I think there is data to support this.

But there was a moment in time pre COVID, absolutely, because I think we were considered regional so for something to do with a visa, we were, we were on the short list and we we qualify for absolutely yeah, and we felt something.

But was it post COVID when things started to then open up again?

You probably know this, but did Gold Coast turn into an option or something changed?

Northern New South was and go, Well.

That felt we felt that right, because we don't get much of that at all anymore.

Because like in Sydney, with like at four hundred and fifty thousand extra people in the last two years.

It's crazy, and everyone's got a car and everybody's driving to work, and everyone goes to the busy shop centers and everyone's catching the trains and it's Whilst it sounds cool, house proces going up because we just can't supply them.

But it is a sort of bit manic.

Sure, yeah, I know we didn't get.

And people still like to go to those nice, comfortable, quiet places where you can get your kid educated and you're not going to get stabbed or robbed on the way out.

And I guess crime.

You'll have crime down the best problem, not as bad as it is up here, and just by virtual numbers.

And I still think it as many It's God's country and I have wating there yet I've always toyed with everything.

Again, I'm going to buy something and I never do.

But I will now be looking at your website.

So what is it?

It's Petersworld?

What dot com?

Dot com dot dot So it's Peter Peters World.

W A L.

D.

Yes, Peter's World.

And you being a director of that place for how many years now?

The last I think it's four years of sorts

So look up Harry Komer Peterswold dot com dot you Peter much, Harry, Thanks, I appreciate it.