INOCULATE YOUR

Not sure what to do with your money in a crisis? Sophie Elsworth asked the experts

REA chief economist Nerida Conisbee

COVID-19 is creating a lot of uncertainty about the outlook for property markets around the world and the situation is changing every day.

In Australia, our governing institutions are making efforts to stimulate the economy and mitigate the potential fallout; interest rates have been cut again and the government has announced budgetary measures to get us spending.

At this stage, the outlook for property will depend on how quickly and how far the virus spreads and how badly it affects our economy.

We’re closely monitoring auction clearance rates and search activity on realestate.com.au, and if indicators start to point to declining activity, recent price growth will likely moderate.

The surest way to lose money in property — or any market — is to buy in an upturn and sell in a downturn.

If you are an investor in property, it always pays to hold for as long as possible to avoid this scenario happening.

Look for properties that are likely to hold value in locations that are broadly undersupplied for housing.

Real Estate Institute of Australia president Adrian Kelly

AUSTRALIANS will continue to invest in Australian real estate despite the coronavirus.

It is likely that we will see some reduction in consumer sentiment as the full effect of the virus becomes clear.

We are already seeing potential vendors deciding not to go to market, opting to wait until conditions improve.

Buyer inquiry though is likely to remain unchanged, meaning that competition will remain high and consequently, prices.

I suspect any reduced consumer sentiment is likely to be magnified in the larger cities than in regional Australia, just as the nonsensical rush to buy toilet paper has been.

I have no doubt that once this situation is managed and under control our markets will return to normality just as they did after the bushfires earlier in the year.

Aussie chief executive James Symond

THIS month’s cuts to mortgage interest rates are expected to provide a welcome buffer to the potentially negative effects of the coronavirus on the property market and economy.

Property should continue to provide a reliable asset class for investors, who may have been burnt this month by the share market meltdown and are not gaining ground with low rates on their savings accounts.

Consumers are in a strong position to invest in property or refinance their mortgages.

Lenders are being very competitive, offering not only a range of incentives such as cashbacks of up to $4000 and mortgage rates under 3 per cent, so it is worthwhile meeting a mortgage broker who can assess your options.

While mortgage rates will continue to be at historic lows for some time, those who are looking for more certainty can split their loan between variable and fixed rates.

Home Loan Experts managing director Otto Dargan

THE coronavirus is likely to cause the housing market to be less active in the second half of this year.

Nobody knows how severely this will affect the economy or house prices.

Fixed rates are at record lows, such as 2.49 per cent with some lenders.

Nobody can predict the future, so fixing is a gamble.

Don’t fix if you want to make extra repayments or plan to sell your property as there can be high exit fees.

Experts believe another rate cut is likely so it may not hurt to wait a few months before fixing.

Making extra repayments to your loan can save you a fortune over the life of the loan and gives you a healthy buffer in case the economy is in trouble later.

Most loans will give you the capacity to redraw your extra repayments in times of need.

Robo adviser Six Park’s director of business development Ted Richards

I DON’T think it’s a good idea to borrow to invest in shares.

I think the better strategy for people to focus on is “dollar cost averaging” in this market (contributing to your investments at regular intervals rather than trying to pick the bottom of the market).

This approach can hedge against further adverse market movements over the short term and won’t leave investors exposed to catastrophic risk that borrowing to invest can, especially if another black swan event occurs.

Buy

Vanguard (VGAD)

An exchange-traded fund that provides investors with exposure to more than 1500 securities across 22 of the world’s major developed economies.

It has a low fee and is currency hedged so it’s unaffected by currency fluctuations.

Sell

Highly-speculative stocks. There’s enough opportunities in the current market to invest in quality companies than needing to take on increased risk by speculating on

SWITCHING INVESTMENTS NOW WOULD RISK SELLING LOW AND BUYING HIGH BRENDAN O’FARRELL THOSE WHO ARE LOOKING FOR MORE CERTAINTY CAN SPLIT THEIR LOAN BETWEEN VARIABLE AND FIXED RATES JAMES SYMOND