THE NEW REALITY

It’s been a genuine challenge making so many adjustments in order to keep operating through COVID-19, however we’ve seen some incredibly rapid and innovative adaptions that will make the overall buying and selling process even better for our clients both now and in the long term. Many of the new procedures for conducting business will be retained after this situation has passed and that’s a win for clients and a boon for transparency in the industry.

We’re seeing a noticeable shift in property market dynamics as the economic turbulence continues, with the prevailing conditions now engaging only those who are serious and motivated. Given the rapid changes occurring, this climate is not for the fainthearted. However, by the same measure there is always opportunity in any market and we’re seeing more of this emerge for both buyers and sellers. There has been no shortage of stories of extreme doom and gloom about property prices plummeting, which the media loves to push. However, dig a little deeper and you’ll find more sensible market commentary suggesting that a correction to property prices is occurring and it’s likely to be far less extreme than the media reports.

We’re seeing a clear divide in opinions about the future of property and the economy, with one camp of the view that this will pass sooner than we expected and we’ll be back into a positive economy to start 2021. On the other side of the coin, the more skeptical are suggesting that property values could drop by 30% or more and we’re heading for a depression with a sharp rise in unemployment and Government debt. To put a 30% price correction in context, with our current median house price near $2m, this would come down to $1.4m and that seems hard to fathom. Knowing our market as we do, we’re of the view that well before such value is on offer there will be active interest ready to charge forward with a purchase. However, in these conditions uncertainty is the only reliable formula.

Our new reality is that one in twenty enquiries is a genuine ready-to-act purchaser, so with that ratio in play the time taken to sell a property will slow down. However, we’re also experiencing a high success rate with converting private inspections into sales. From our side, we’ve gone from having a huge trawling net to a single fishing line to find the right buyer but the more qualified angler is still delivering results. Buyers are more elusive and savvy, watching price adjustments closely, so it’s important for sellers to refine expectations to get them moving. As we alluded to above, when you have serious sellers on the market, it’s always wise to keep a buying eye open for opportunity.