Despite multiple Australian cities ordered into lockdowns by state and territory governments over the last fortnight, the overriding sentiment among property owners, investors and business owners, for that matter, is that we are all much more prepared than back in April 2020. 

Real estate market confidence, for instance, remains extraordinarily strong, with data from Raine & Horne indicating that requests from property owners for appraisals are about 34% higher than this time last year. 

“With house prices across the country still surging - winter and all, there are no signs of market momentum dwindling due to these snap COVID lockdowns,” said Angus Raine, Executive Chairman, Raine & Horne. According to CoreLogic, national home values rose 1.9% in June, taking annual growth to 13.5% for the 2020/21 financial year. The increase in Australian dwelling values was led by houses, which rose 15.6% over the year, compared to a 6.8% lift in unit values. 

Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist at AMP Capital, said, “Australian residential property prices also surged on the back of ultra-low rates, various incentives and economic recovery resulting in their strongest 12-month gain since 2004.”

Looking past lockdowns and continuing the momentum 

According to Angus Raine, a lack of listings has been the only stumbling block for real estate activity over the last financial year. “So, the 34% spike in appraisals reported by our offices across Australia is very pleasing and an excellent sign that the traditional selling market in spring will be strong this year for vendors and buyers.”

Addressing the latest round of lockdowns and border closures, Angus expects that restrictions will run for a much shorter time frame across the board. “Compared to April 2020, we have the vaccine rollout, world-best QR code check-in systems, and excellent contact tracers helping to close links and stop the spread faster than ever before,” he said. 

“Remember that just as we were all pushed to learn and adopt new ‘best practice’ methods last year such as virtual tours, online auctions and inspections by appointment, which has ensured the market hasn’t skipped a beat - so too were Federal and State governments. And it is because of these factors that the bounce back will be faster, and I have no doubt we will be out of restrictions much sooner, enabling Australian real estate to continue on its merry way.”