Australian Property Market Update

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless has dubbed the year 2019 as “the year when new records were set”, given the corrections and changes in the housing market.

The main contributing factors to the rebounded housing market include:

• the surprise results of the federal election in May, which eased the uncertainty around property tax reform,
• changes to loan serviceability assessments introduced by APRA.
• three rate cuts which brought interest rates to record-low levels
• increasing buyer demand and
• persistently low levels of listings

2019 saw the lowest level of investor participation in the market on record, with investors comprising of only 24.8% of demand in the year. With lower levels of investor participation, 2019 saw a surge in first home buyers (FHBs), taking advantage of subdued house prices and less competition from investors in the earlier months of the year. However, levels of FHB participation are likely to slow as property values continue to increase and investors return to the market.

Get Rare Group believes that for 2020, we are likely to see Australian property markets in recovery mode and beyond, overtaking previous record highs; however, the rapid rate of capital gains seen in the second half of 2019 is likely to lose stream as affordability deteriorates and listings increase.

Be aware that the Australian Property market is a very heterogeneous (not a single) market. Please ensure that before you pick another property in your portfolio, you engage a qualified property consultant who understand property market cycles.