LOOKING TO NEXT PHASE

Absent a cliff, will more people make the big jump (into property)?

WHEN it comes to property, cash may be king but confidence is key. With a proverbial cliff in the form of government support withdrawals anticipated at the end of September, more than a few employees (and employers) have been anxiously waiting to find out what will happen in the next phase of 2020 – the year of surprises.

Thankfully, we now at least have a roadmap for the rest of the year and then some, with reduced JobKeeper and JobSeeker programs in place (with new criteria) until early next year.

While this isn’t a fix-all, it does provide a foundation for businesses to start planning ahead with that degree of certainty. It’s that allimportant confidence it offers that should help move things forward.

One thing we’ve witnessed over the past few months is that while there might still be opportunistic buyers during uncertain times, absent real confidence in what’s happening, sellers will flee the market – particularly when they’re protected from normal market pressures by support measures like mortgage repayment deferrals. This lack of (initial) confidence among sellers has led to a real reduction in available stock and an unexpected (though welcome) increase in prices in some areas due to tight supply.

As a real estate agent, I’ve been encouraged by the level of activity across our region. That said, there has remained a concern that as the year’s progressed, things could become patchy once more, particularly if the Federal Government was to pull its support all at once. We’re now further encouraged those blue skies we’ve been seeing more of late, continue.

One interesting prospect to come will be whether or not both buyers and sellers adopt the same view in this paradoxically buoyant period.

Buyers already seem more engaged than they’ve been in a long time.

Added (or at least extended) job security is likely to improve this further though bottlenecks with most banks are becoming a serious limiting factor to becoming “buy-ready” before making an offer.

Meanwhile, sellers are tentatively coming out of the woodwork, with appraisal numbers increasing over the past fortnight, though how many of these will convert to active listings remains to be seen.

While we wait, the advice of the past few months holds true for those in the market – do your homework, move quickly and move confidently … or risk missing out.