Property Positivity Hits One-Year Low
Market sentiment hasn’t been so dour since covid related lockdowns.
Market sentiment hasn’t been so dour since covid related lockdowns.
Despite the ascendant housing prices across the nation’s capitals, new data suggests less than half of Australians believe now is a good time to buy property.
According to financial comparison website Finder, and its ‘consumer sentiment tracker’ – which analyses data from more than 24,000 Australians for 24 consecutive month – shows the end of April saw home-buying sentiment reach its lowest point since COVID-related lockdowns begun last year.
Further, Finder’s property positivity index sits at 49%, only 7% higher than April 2020’s low of 42%.
More recently, a record-high number of people (67%) thought it was a good time to buy in December 2020, according to the data.
“As lockdowns rolled out across Australia and open house inspections declined, Finder’s Property Positivity Index nosedived only to recover again as the housing market sprang back to life,” said Finder’s head of consumer research Graham Cooke.
“Both the rock-bottom cash rate and FOMO have turbo-charged prices but fears of a property bubble are making many Aussies pessimistic that now is the time to buy,” added Mr Cooke.
Although positivity surrounding property is at a year low, 74% of those surveyed believe property prices in their area would rise over the next 12 months – up from 24% from April 2020.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Scheduled auctions fall to winter levels as vendors hold back on going to market
Grand final fever and the long weekend have dampened scheduled auction activity this weekend, CoreLogic reports.
The number of homes scheduled for auction this weekend is set to halve, with 1,324 properties listed, marking the quietest week since mid June. Melbourne will experience the quietest week since Easter, CoreLogic data shows, with 223 homes prepared to go under the hammer. In Sydney, 805 properties are expected to go to market, the lowest number in seven weeks.
With long weekends in Queensland and South Australia, numbers are also down in Brisbane (111) and Adelaide (86), less than half the properties available for auction the previous week. It’s a less dramatic drop in Canberra, where 83 homes are scheduled for auction, down -22.4 percent on the previous week.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual