Invest
Property positivity up even if prices aren’t
The property market is once again looking up, with three-quarters of first home buyers now believing that record-low interest rates have made buying and investing in property a more attractive proposition.
Property positivity up even if prices aren’t
The property market is once again looking up, with three-quarters of first home buyers now believing that record-low interest rates have made buying and investing in property a more attractive proposition.
The latest quarterly property sentiment report from ME has revealed that optimism around the Australian property market has begun to return, following an initial downward trend as COVID-19 first took hold and caused a hit to the economy.
Positive sentiment rose to 35 per cent for Q3 2020, the report highlighted, up by 6 percentage points from the 29 per cent recorded in Q2.
However, 21 per cent of respondents did report they still feel “negative” about the property market overall.
Australians are also less worried about how COVID-19 will affect the value of property already owned, despite more than half of survey respondents (55 per cent) still considering it as a concern, down from 64 per cent in the last quarter.
Despite the return of optimism, 62 per cent of people who already own property do predict house prices to decline or stay the same over the next 12 months.
Just 26 per cent of property owners expect to see the value of their owner-occupied or investment dwelling increase, while 13 per cent are unsure.
ME general manager of home loans Andrew Bartolo said that the pandemic “continues to shift consumer sentiment and create volatility in the Australian property market, a situation no one would have expected at the beginning of the year”.
He said the impact of COVID-19 had negatively shifted consumer sentiment towards the property market in the second quarter of the year, “but we started to see signs of optimism in June”.
With lockdowns across metropolitan Melbourne again a reality, Mr Bartolo expressed how, “hopefully, this renewed positivity and growing confidence is able to weather possible second waves of COVID-19 cases as we’ve seen in Victoria, which is no doubt increasing worry across the nation”.
First home buyers are the most optimistic about the current lending environment, but 57 per cent of investment property owners and 58 per cent of owner-occupied property owners did agree that record-low interest rates have made buying or investing in property more attractive.
nestegg recently reported that more than four in five first home buyers expect to see bargain properties begin to enter the market as the economy continues to suffer the fall-out of COVID-19.
RELATED ARTICLES
About the author
About the author
Property
Rents Are Repricing Australia Inc: What record‑low vacancies mean for inflation, talent and strategy
Australia’s rental market has slipped into a vacancy desert, and it’s not just tenants feeling the heat. Persistently tight supply is pushing up rents, embedding services inflation and complicating ...Read more
Property
Young buyers poised for a comeback as 5% First Home Guarantee takes effect
In a move set to reshape the Australian property landscape, the government’s revamped First Home Guarantee is poised to open the doors of homeownership to a new generation of young AustraliansRead more
Property
AFG Securities waives settlement fees for first-home buyers, signalling strategic shift
In a strategic move aimed at easing the financial burden on first-home buyers, AFG Securities has announced the elimination of settlement fees on select loans, potentially saving customers up to $699Read more
Property
From trust woes to wealth: Australian agencies' secret to boosting prices
In Australia’s residential market, trust is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a pricing variable. Persistent distrust of real estate agents is depressing vendor outcomes and inviting regulatory heat, but ...Read more
Property
Reality check for first home buyers: Affordable suburbs with 5% deposit
In a significant development for Australian first home buyers, a new property search tool from Aussie Home Loans is set to transform the way prospective homeowners approach the market. As the Federal ...Read more
Property
Trust as a performance multiplier in Australia's real estate market
In Australia’s A$10–11 trillion housing market, trust is emerging as a crucial factor that sellers and agencies can no longer afford to overlook. Traditionally viewed as a soft metric, trust is now ...Read more
Property
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie makes a splash with Belmont buy as real estate consolidation looms
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie’s acquisition of the Belmont office, including its rent roll, is less about shopfronts and more about balance‑sheet resilience. In a market where listings ebb and flow with ...Read more
Property
Twice the demand: the case study behind Melbourne’s first‑home buyer surge
Melbourne has quietly engineered one of Australia’s most consequential housing turnarounds, with first‑home buyer demand running at roughly double the national pace and four of the top five buyer ...Read more
Property
Rents Are Repricing Australia Inc: What record‑low vacancies mean for inflation, talent and strategy
Australia’s rental market has slipped into a vacancy desert, and it’s not just tenants feeling the heat. Persistently tight supply is pushing up rents, embedding services inflation and complicating ...Read more
Property
Young buyers poised for a comeback as 5% First Home Guarantee takes effect
In a move set to reshape the Australian property landscape, the government’s revamped First Home Guarantee is poised to open the doors of homeownership to a new generation of young AustraliansRead more
Property
AFG Securities waives settlement fees for first-home buyers, signalling strategic shift
In a strategic move aimed at easing the financial burden on first-home buyers, AFG Securities has announced the elimination of settlement fees on select loans, potentially saving customers up to $699Read more
Property
From trust woes to wealth: Australian agencies' secret to boosting prices
In Australia’s residential market, trust is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a pricing variable. Persistent distrust of real estate agents is depressing vendor outcomes and inviting regulatory heat, but ...Read more
Property
Reality check for first home buyers: Affordable suburbs with 5% deposit
In a significant development for Australian first home buyers, a new property search tool from Aussie Home Loans is set to transform the way prospective homeowners approach the market. As the Federal ...Read more
Property
Trust as a performance multiplier in Australia's real estate market
In Australia’s A$10–11 trillion housing market, trust is emerging as a crucial factor that sellers and agencies can no longer afford to overlook. Traditionally viewed as a soft metric, trust is now ...Read more
Property
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie makes a splash with Belmont buy as real estate consolidation looms
LJ Hooker Lake Macquarie’s acquisition of the Belmont office, including its rent roll, is less about shopfronts and more about balance‑sheet resilience. In a market where listings ebb and flow with ...Read more
Property
Twice the demand: the case study behind Melbourne’s first‑home buyer surge
Melbourne has quietly engineered one of Australia’s most consequential housing turnarounds, with first‑home buyer demand running at roughly double the national pace and four of the top five buyer ...Read more
