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Matthew Sullivan
With tight vacancy rates, high rental yields and static property prices, an increasing number of buyers are expected to make a move on market in the next few months, new research has found.
According to the latest Real Estate Business’ Quarterly Sentiment Survey, undertaken in the second half of December, 89 per cent of the 171 respondents believe the property market represents good value to buyers over the coming quarter.
In addition, a majority of respondents expect to see market activity increase, with both property listings and sales set to rise by 52.6 per cent and 45.6 per cent, respectively.
The increase to activity is likely to have a positive effect on the real estate industry with only 10.5 per cent of respondents expecting to see their business decline over the coming months – down 2.3 per cent when compared to the previous quarter.
Moreover, 47.4 per cent of respondents are anticipating growth – up 7.8 per cent when compared to the previous quarter.
Speaking to Real Estate Business, Australian Property Monitors senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson said agents working the nation’s middle markets can expect some positive results over the first half of 2012, however little change is expected to occur in the nation’s blue ribbon segments.
“I think buyer activity will increase in most markets across Australian over the next six months,” Dr Wilson said.
“After a disappointing 12 months, I think we are just starting to see some positive signs of growth in Brisbane and Perth and I expect this to carry through for the first half of the year. Sydney is Sydney, and will very much keep on keeping on. Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart will drag their heels in the dirt a bit I believe and will not post the same growth as the other states, but I don’t necessarily expect any major declines either.”
Just over 57 per cent of the respondents expect to see most activity be driven by the upsizers and downsizers market over the coming quarter, and Dr Wilson largely agrees.
“The nation’s middle market will see the most activity over the next six months. Most buyers will come from that middle change up market, looking to make the most of static house prices. But in saying that, I don’t expect to see any change in the prestigious million dollar-plus market, with activity set to remain soft,” Dr Wilson said.
The Real Estate Business Quarterly Sentiment Survey is an online-based poll. The results to the latest survey were based on 171 replies, with the majority of respondents coming from the residential sales and property management sectors (84.7 per cent). More than half were principals (56.7 per cent) and licensees (12.9 per cent), and another 23.4 per cent were sales representatives.
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