If New Zealand is anything to go by then it’s not all doom and gloom for Melbourne…
The number of July property sales in New Zealand represented the highest volume of July sales in five years according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
“We’ve seen auctions up, prices up, volumes up, we’ve seen listings up, and days to sell down, which are all very strong indicators,” said REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell.
The market’s surprising strength was due to catch-up demand after the level 4 lockdown, as well as record low interest rates.
There’s also the thought that people decided to put more money into property instead of the more volatile share market, or as an alternative to overseas travel.
The key test for the property market will be the level of unemployment particularly now that a new lockdown in New Zealand has been imposed. The same applies for Melbourne.
Nevertheless, the New Zealand data is generally consistent with what we saw in Sydney and Melbourne in July (following the last easing of restrictions) with new home listings up 21 per cent in the NSW and 10 per cent in Victoria.
Interestingly however asking prices have reduced recently as vendors have become more motivated to transact amid growing virus cases.
On this metric, perhaps Melbourne is in for some more positive house price data soon with new Covid case numbers clearly now falling, and the prospects for an effective vaccine increasing now as well.
With heightened activity expected from late September, we are strongly encouraging clients interested in transacting to establish their pre-approvals now.
Generally speaking clients should allow 1.5 weeks to prepare for an application, and a further 2 weeks for it to be assessed/ approved.
Long Property blog content provides general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and your full financial situation will need to be reviewed prior to acceptance of any offer or product. Nothing on the Long Property website constitutes legal, tax or financial advice and you should always seek professional advice in relation to your individual circumstances.
