What discounts to look for as isolation ends

THE COVID-19 pandemic has created financial chaos for many Australians, but there may be a slight silver lining in the form of post-lockdown bargains.

Experts predict prices will temporarily drop for some goods and services as a result of economic pressures, government subsidies or ramped-up marketing campaigns from sectors hoping to bounce back.

TRAVEL

A new Finder.com.au survey of 1025 Australians has revealed 46 per cent – the equivalent of 8.9 million people – hope to travel within the next 12 months.

Finder spokeswoman Kate Browne said she expected travel providers would offer discounted airfares and accommodation after COVID19 restrictions eased, to win over customers.

“We also expect there will probably be more flexible booking terms as airlines try to recoup losses incurred during the pandemic,” she said.

“The only downside is if airlines leave seats empty due to social distancing guidance as that will put pressure on them to push up the prices.

“That remains to be seen at this stage, though. Qantas are saying they are not going to do it because it won’t be financially possible to fly a plane that is only a third full.”

REAL ESTATE

Capital city home prices fell

0.5 per cent on average last month, according to CoreLogic data, and many forecasters believe more falls will occur once bank mortgage repayment holidays end in September.

“Because of social distancing and lack of consumer confidence, we think it will dampen prices in the months to come,” Ms Browne said. “It’s good news for property buyers.”

Griffith Business School economics professor Fabrizio Carmignani said the overall cost of living would not decline postpandemic but agreed “the housing market could experience some sort of decline”.

“In the situation of a crisis, we expect housing prices to go down,” he said.

FUEL

Ms Browne said petrol prices had risen recently but were likely to fall post-coronavirus because of plummeting oil prices resulting from an oversupply of oil globally.

This is what occurred during the 2008 financial crisis.

EDUCATION

In April, the Federal Government announced the Higher Education Relief Package, designed to support workers displaced by the COVID-19 crisis to upskill or retrain for a new career. It significantly reduced the cost of selected courses – such as an Undergraduate Certificate in Nursing or a Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security – to between $1500 and $2500.

Prof Carmignani said further subsidies might lead to reduced education costs for students after the pandemic had passed.

“One way to deal with increasing unemployment is for the government to support the retraining of workers,” he said. “That could happen and the tuition fees may not necessarily decline but the support for people willing to undertake study could increase, therefore reducing the cost for people. “It’s a way to limit the very significant effect the crisis will have on the labour market.”

moneysaverHQ.com.au