In writing this article I have
looked back on my predictions for 2012 which were published in this magazine at
the start of the year.
So far it seems that,
unfortunately, those predictions seem to be fairly accurate.
On a positive note, the RBA has
dropped rates several times and the general consensus seems to be that there
will be another one soon, possibly in September’s meeting. This continued
downward trend has certainly helped the market and the affordability of
property everywhere, however other influencing factors have not been so kind.
Market confidence generally seems
to have maintained a largely negative trend, primarily due to the continued
instability of the Eurozone and its effects on the global economy and share
markets. Let’s face it, having doom and gloom on the news every night with
stories of further bailouts for Spain as well as Greece and share prices rising
and falling daily, tends not to install a lot of confidence that many
consumers need to “take the plunge” and take on a new large debt.
The other side of this is that
there is generally a shortage of new properties being placed on the market as
many people elect to stay where they are at the moment and play it safe.
On this basis I doubt that many
areas of the state will see price growth over the latter half of the year, but
hopefully this stock shortage we’ll keep a floor under house prices and we will
not see falls either.
An area bucking this trend
appears to be the lower end of the market with first home buyers and investors
reasonably active in most areas.
Rentals still appear to be the
most positive area of our business going forward with continued, but slowing,
growth in rents and definitely more buying activity from investors in most
areas. The surety of that extra cash flow for the office in these tight times
is what many wise agents seem to be focusing on at the moment.
There is no doubt a pent up
demand building in the market, people want to buy their first home or move into
a better one and in many cases can already afford to, but that confidence is
lacking. If we can see out this quiet period I am sure that some very good
times lie ahead as that pent up demand is released in a flood of activity as
soon as Europe can cure its woes.
Hang in there and EAC will hang in there with you, giving you the tools to make the most of whatever market we have to deal with.
.JPG)
