What Aussies are talking about when it comes to property
The question on everyone’s lips, is Australia heading for a property crash?
What is really going on in the property market with so much talk about property crashes, oversupply of property, especially apartments, affordability and rising household debt.
Conditions need to turn pretty bad for our housing market to crash – Australia would need to experience rapidly rising levels of unemployment, significant rise in interest rates or a major overseas catastrophe to the financial markets.
Right now, the market is slowing but there is certainly no crash looming on the horizon.
A slowing market isn’t surprising given the level of growth it has gone through in the last decade. Back in 2015 the Australian Financial Regulators (ASIC, APRA, RBA and ABA) had grave concerns about the direction our property market was heading and impact it would have on the Australian economy if it were to crash.
The Regulator set in motion a series of regulatory changes to slow the market down in order to avoid a boom bust scenario.
Despite the slowdown in demand, levels are still at record highs, showing that Australians continue to see property as a safe and secure investment.
While this is similar to the rest of Asia Pacific, it’s very different from Europe and North America. Australians have done very well out of the property, with many people aspiring to own more than one dwelling. It’s this lust for more property that continues to drive high demand levels.
Affordability is changing where we look and buy
Affordability is becoming a major factor in where Australians search for their next property, with more affordable locations seeing a rapid rise in popularity.
Tasmania is showing the strongest demand in Australia when compared to the number of people looking to buy with versus property listings.
Not only is Tasmania the most affordable state, it is also seeing jobs growth, which is in turn supporting population growth.
In NSW the Central Coast and Wollongong appear to be the main beneficiaries of high prices in Sydney, with both regions seeing very high search traffic.
This has now translated to price growth with the Wollongong suburb of Stanwell Park showing one of the strongest increases over the past 12 months.
For investors, looking at areas with strong demand can lead to better decisions.
With about a third of Australia searching realestate.com.au every month, this provides valuable date and unique insights into where people are looking to buy and rent.
Declan Hanratty – Managing Director
M: 0409 089 456 F: 03 9416 1916 ABN: 19 880 907 430 POSTAL: PO Box 1551 COLLINGWOOD Victoria 3066 MFAA Membership No. 50217 Australian Credit Licence No. 383120 Credit Ombudsman Service No. 412201
