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Just Imagine Finance owner Catherine Salat expects the beauty of spring in the Blue Mountains of NSW and some new marketing investment to spur new business after a subdued period in 2024.
Salat (pictured above), who founded Just Imagine Finance in 2007, said 2024 had been a little quiet for the business, as high interest rates caused residential buyers to baulk at buying as they waited for them to drop.
The business has been handling a higher volume of refinancing deals for its existing client base, as clients who have been fixed at low rates face the prospect of moving on to higher rates.
“I'm getting a lot of clients coming off fixed, because I fixed quite a few of my clients for a long time when rates were low,” Salat said. “So now they’re coming off, and they're getting hit with a six point something rate. They're horrified, so I’m refinancing a few of those to a better rate.”
However, Salat said there had been interest from buyers waiting in the wings for interest rates to drop, and that the season was about to turn in favour of Blue Mountains buyers.
“Refinancing is keeping things ticking over, but with spring as well, people always come up and they're keen to buy in the Blue Mountains,” she said.
The Blue Mountains housing market is somewhat constrained by the lack of available housing stock, with buyers essentially needing to wait until people are moving to purchase an existing property.
However, it is proving an attractive market for new buyers, as the area’s predominantly older residents eventually sell, leaving the market open to new buyers interested in the mountains.
June 2024 data from CoreLogic showed the Blue Mountains median house price was at $874,515, an increase of 41.6% over the past five years, which mostly occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Look, it's a great place to live up here, and now people can work more remotely, there's more people wanting to buy up here,” Salat said.
The growth of remote work will continue to be a driver for demand in the Blue Mountains area.
“A lot of people are still working from home, and even if they have to go into town for a meeting or a day or two, it's only an hour and a half, two hours travel,” Salat said.
“So they think, ‘Oh well, I can deal with that for a couple of days a week’. And then you get, you know, things like nature, rock climbing and loud cicadas.”
Just Imagine Finance is currently a single broker, residential finance focused business; Salat has a loan administration assistant helping with paperwork, and outsources the loan applications.
The business was built through strong word of mouth referrals in the local community, with Salat differentiating herself as a broker who really looks after the interests of her clients.
“There’s a lot of hand holding, especially for first home buyers who are nervous, or people who have sold their house and can’t remember the whole home loan process,” she said.
“I help them get through the whole process; I like to look after them, because I like being part of the journey for these people to get their goals of homeownership. They could be people who are divorced, or studying again, all that type of thing.”
However Salat is now investing in formal marketing to boost lead flow through the business.
“I'm looking to continue improving my business. And, you know, everything is sort of set up for more loans to be done, so I just thought, maybe I should do this marketing stuff.”
Salat hopes to attract more investor clients to the business, in addition to the current focus on residential buyers, who include owner occupier upgraders, refinancers and first homebuyers.
“The marketing is actually very interesting. I am optimistic it will bring more people in,” she said.
