“We don’t have enough stock to satisfy clients waiting to purchase their escape out of the city.”
4 min
Deborah Cullen has worked her way through the real estate industry, from boutique agencies and corporate heavy-hitters, to selling Sydney’s finest homes.
However, through 2020’s pandemic, Cullen saw an opportunity to specialise her skillset, partnering with Richard Royle to open a boutique (and luxurious) agency with a renewed focus on rural estates and coastal escapes away from the capital cities.
We caught up to discuss the capital city exodus of COVID and how the second-home market continues to play out.
Kanebridge News: I guess we’ll start at the beginning of your property career – you were a Personal Trainer before, why property?
Deborah Cullen: Fitness and real estate are passions for me. Firstly, real estate – for me it was a love of renovating and styling that made me fall in love with properties. I used to go to inspections, view beautiful homes and get ideas for what current trends were for my own family and future homes.
Working as a fitness coach is all about communication and care, all easily transferrable skills into selling property I think.
KN: In 2020 you launched a new boutique agency – Cullen Royle – what was the catalyst there? What makes it different?
DC: After starting and heading up a prestige team within a large corporate business I saw the opportunity in a COVID affected market to provide a very personalised boutique service and one that focused on family and lifestyle properties rather than one that concentrated on volume and transactions. I
Working together with my business partner Richard Royle, who also came from large corporate background in rural and agribusiness, our work is based on personal referrals and repeat business. We have seen an incredible amount of business come our way since starting Cullen Royle and we feel very honoured and blessed to look after our clients most important and valuable property assets.
KN: How is it different selling a rural estate to a waterfront Sydney mansion?
DC: They both can be emotional purchases. Country lifestyle estates are usually driven by family desires to getaway and be together. Waterfront homes are wonderful estates to represent as we see a huge response from our expat database – but they also usually include the added check list of requirements such as best schools, transport, shopping, entertainment etc. So, it needs to work on many more levels to be a perfect fit.
KN: What about your personal preference, rural or coastal?
DC: That is a tough one but luckily I get to spend time at both for my clients. It is very common for our clients to have a city base, country estate and beach house. I really enjoy the coast myself, but I have to say, wintertime in the country with the fireplaces lit and the glass of red is very hard to beat.
KN: How noticeable was the shift away from the cities to regional pockets of Australia?
DC: It was and still is an amazing shift that gained momentum very quickly. Country and coastal homes were always popular but then when the COVID experience hit us, the desire to be away in nature and fresh air everyday escalated to a new level. It is still there, we don’t have enough stock to satisfy clients waiting to purchase their escape out of the city.”
KN: Are prestige buyers still looking to move out of the cities permanently, or is the market returning to those looking for a 2nd home? What’s the split like?
DC: It is very definitely still a split lifestyle between a city base and lifestyle retreat. What we have seen is the city base become the smaller home and the coastal or country home be a larger investment. Those who are moving permanently are doing so to be with family or making it a definite business relocation. Most of our clients want the flexibility to still stay in the city when needed so have a foot in both camps.
KN: What regional areas do you think are growing with popularity now, and which do you see as having potential over the next few years?
DC: We have seen areas come back to life again that are still an easy drive to big cities. In particular the Hunter Region is now a strong lifestyle draw and has the inclusion of tourism and entertainment on its doorstep. The other area is the South Coast of Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Mudgee regions which continues to draw those from the city out. There is a tremendous amount of luxury stays and farm getaways in these areas that are making people consider these regions as options.
KN: What of the prestige property market as a whole – is it to continue to be as safe and as in demand as ever?
DC: The resilience of the Sydney prestige market in particular has shown continually to be a sound investment. It really comes down to the amount of quality properties being available in blue ribbon areas. Sydneysiders are driven by the desire to be near the harbour and beaches plus have a stunning country retreat. These quality estates will always attract a discerning audience to assess. We see this continuing for the foreseeable future for sure.
KN: What do you make of the trend of downsizers or rightsizers? Do you think that will continue to grow and perhaps lessen the appeal of a sprawling country estate or coastal home in the future?
DC: Rightsizing is all about finding the right home for a particular time in your life. At the moment, we are seeing an abundance of clients purchasing estates to have the opportunity to share and gather for celebrations and to create precious memories. I don’t think that will change for a while with COVID still being an influence in our lives.
In 2021, luxury estate purchases are now about the experience shared together as a family and the options of where they can do this? Well, that, can be anywhere now. So let us at Cullen Royle do the hunting and find it for you.
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Unmarried home buyers say they are giving priority to a financial foundation over a legal one
4 min
The big wedding can wait. Couples are deciding they would rather take the plunge into homeownership.
In reshuffling the traditional order of adult milestones, some couples may decide not to marry at all, while others say they are willing to delay a wedding. Buying a home is as much, if not more of a commitment, they reason. It helps them build financial stability when the housing market is historically unaffordable.
In 2023, about 555,000 unmarried couples said that they had bought their home in the previous year, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Census Bureau data. That is up 46% from 10 years earlier, when just under 381,000 couples did the same.
Unmarried couples amounted to more than 11% of all U.S. home sales. The percentage has climbed steadily over the past two decades—a period in which marriage rates have fallen. These couples make up triple the share of the housing market that they did in the mid-1980s, according to the National Association of Realtors.
To make it work, couples must look past the significant risk that the relationship could blow up, or something could happen to one partner. Without a marriage certificate, living situations and finances are more likely to fall into limbo, attorneys say.
Mark White, 59 years old, and Sheila Davidson, 62, bought a lakeside townhouse together in Newport News, Va., in 2021. But only her name is on the deed. He sometimes worries about what would happen to the house if something happened to her. They have told their children that he should inherit the property, but don’t have formal documentation.
“We need to get him on the deed at some point,” Davidson said.
White and Davidson both had previous marriages, and decided they don’t want to do it again. They also believe tying the knot would affect their retirement benefits and tax brackets.
Couples that forgo or postpone marriage say they are giving priority to a financial foundation over a legal one. The median homeowner had nearly $400,000 in wealth in 2022, compared with roughly $10,000 for renters, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances.
Even couples that get married first are often focused on the house. Many engaged couples ask for down-payment help in lieu of traditional wedding gifts.
“A mortgage feels like a more concrete step toward their future together than a wedding,” said Emily Luk, co-founder of Plenty, a financial website for couples.
Elise Dixon and Nick Blue, both 29, watched last year as the Fed lifted rates, ostensibly pushing up the monthly costs on a mortgage. The couple, together for four years, decided to use $80,000 of their combined savings, including an unexpected inheritance she received from her grandfather, to buy a split-level condo in Washington, D.C.
“Buying a house is actually a bigger commitment than an engagement,” Dixon said.
They did that, too, getting engaged eight months after their April 2023 closing date. They are planning a small ceremony on the Maryland waterfront next year with around 75 guests, which they expect to cost less than they spent on the home’s down payment and closing costs.
The ages at which people buy homes and enter marriages have both been trending upward. The median age of first marriage for men is 30.2, and for women, 28.6, according to the Census Bureau. That is up from 29.3 and 27.0 a decade earlier. The National Association of Realtors reported this year that the median age of first-time buyers was 38, up from 31 in 2014.
Family lawyers—and parents—sometimes suggest protections in case the unmarried couple breaks up. A prenup-like cohabitation agreement spells out who keeps the house, and how to divide the financial obligations. Without the divorce process, a split can be even messier, legal advisers say.
Family law attorneys say more unmarried people are calling for legal advice, but often balk at planning for a potential split, along with the cost of drawing up such agreements, which can range from $1,000 to $3,000, according to attorney-matching service Legal Match.
Dixon, the Washington condo buyer, said she brushed off her mother’s suggestion that she draft an agreement with Blue detailing how much she invested, figuring that their mutual trust and equal contributions made it unnecessary. (They are planning to get a prenup when they wed, she said.)
There are a lot of questions couples don’t often think about, such as whether one owner has the option to buy the other out, and how quickly they need to identify a real-estate agent if they decide to sell, said Ryan Malet, a real-estate lawyer in the D.C. region.
The legal risks often don’t deter young home buyers.
Peyton Kolb, 26, and her fiancé figured that a 150-person wedding would cost $200,000 or more. Instead, they bought a three-bedroom near Tampa with a down payment of less than $50,000.
“We could spend it all on one day, or we could invest in something that would build equity and give us space to grow,” said Kolb, who works in new-home sales.
Owning a place where guests could sleep in an extra bedroom, instead of on the couch in their old rental, “really solidified us starting our lives together,” Kolb said. Their wedding is set for next May.
Homes and weddings have both gotten more expensive, but there are signs that home prices are rising faster. From 2019 to 2023, the median sales price for existing single-family homes rose by 44%, according to the National Association of Realtors. The average cost of a wedding increased 25% over that time, according to annual survey data from The Knot.
Roughly three quarters of couples move in together before marriage, and may already be considering the trade-offs between buying and renting. The cost of both has risen sharply over the past few years, but rent rises regularly while buying with a fixed-rate mortgage caps at least some of the costs.
An $800 rent hike prompted Sonali Prabhu and Ryan Willis, both 27, to look at buying. They were already paying $3,200 in monthly rent on their two-bedroom Austin, Texas, apartment, and felt they had outgrown it while working from home.
In October, they closed on a $425,000 three-bed, three-bath house. Their mortgage payment is $200 more than their rent would have been, but they have more space. They split the down payment and she paid about $50,000 for some renovations.
Her dad’s one request was that the house face east for good fortune, she said. Both parents are eagerly awaiting an engagement.
“We’re very solid right now,” said Prabhu, who plans to get married in 2026. “The marriage will come when it comes.”
