Australia's Infrastructure-Led Property Boom - November 2020

Federal and state political leaders intend to generate an infrastructure-led economic recovery in Australia.

That will turbocharge a residential property boom which is already building across the nation.

Infrastructure spending is always a key driver of growth in residential property markets and government plans to fast-track shovel-ready projects will enhance the established trend of rising markets in many parts of Australia.
The research conducted daily by the Hotspotting team places considerable emphasis on infrastructure.
The best places to invest have impact from infrastructure in two key ways: excellent existing infrastructure (public transport, schools, medical services, retail outlets, etc) and spending on new infrastructure.
New infrastructure is particularly influential on generating growth in residential property markets.
There is a belief in that no other factor impacts property markets as strongly as major new infrastructure spending.

More potential hotspots will emerge as governments firm up their plans and announce start dates for major developments.
Source: Hotspotting - Australia's Infrastructure-Led Property Boom: National Top 10 Hotspots

Australian property market update - August 2020

By Emily Ng

Published September 3, 2020

The latest CoreLogic Home Value Index reveals Australian property prices continued on a downward slope over the month of August. 

Although this marks the fourth month of overall national price declines brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic, the rate of decline has consistently slowed month-on-month with national values down 0.4 per cent compared to 0.6 in July. 

It’s important to note that when we look at property values at a capital city or regional level, not all markets are behaving the same, with home values actually increasing in some geographies.

top-view-of-newcastle-australia.jpg

Houses

$568,833

Monthly change: -0.4%

Units

$513,795

Monthly change: -0.4%

Over August, declines in values have slowed with five of the eight capital cities holding firm or posting slight increases in values. 

Adelaide and Perth prices remained unchanged over the month, with increases in Hobart (0.1 per cent), Canberra (0.5 per cent) and Darwin (1.0 per cent). 

Over August, the capital cities on Australia’s eastern seaboard are the ones that have experienced price declines, although these drops have been quite mild, with Sydney down half a percent and Brisbane declining a mere 0.1 per cent. 

Melbourne led these declines with a 1.2 per cent drop, which has clearly been driven by the implementation of Stage 4 lockdowns in the city. 

Our regional markets continue to outperform their capital city counterparts with combined regional dwelling values virtually flat since May with a median of $395,761. 

Over August, declines in values have slowed with five of the eight capital cities holding firm or posting slight increases in values. 

CoreLogic’s Head of Research, Tim Lawless says lack of overseas migration and increased remote work brought on by the pandemic could be the driving factors behind this result. 

“Unlike their capital city counterparts, which usually receive 85 per cent of net overseas migration, most regional markets have avoided the drop in demand caused by the pause in migration,” he said. 

“Regional markets may also be appealing for their relatively low density and lower price point. The normalisation of remote work through the pandemic could make proximity to major cities less of a factor in home purchasing decisions,” he said.  

CoreLogic Head of Australian Research, Eliza Owen told Domain that while regional markets are faring better, they will not be immune to property value declines. 

“In the short term, regional Australia can’t really avoid a cyclical downturn, because of the shock to employment and incomes that we’ve seen across Australia,” she said. 

Our regional markets continue to outperform their capital city counterparts with combined regional dwelling values virtually flat since May with a median of $395,761. 

Leading into spring, CoreLogic reports new listings have declined 11.5 per cent over the past four weeks. Ms Owen told the ABC that this was an unseasonal decline as “this is a time of year, [where] we’d usually see listings volumes increase in the ramp up to the spring selling season.”

This trend was supported by SQM Research reporting 19,627 less national listings on the market from July to August. 

Managing Director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher comments on these latest figures. 

“There was quite a large drop in new listings for the month predominantly driven by the shortfall in Melbourne. 

“It is reflective of the near entire freeze-up of the Melbourne housing market. As the Victorian State Government is heavily reliant on property stamp duty revenues, there must be a significant state revenue collapse occurring,” he said. 

CoreLogic’s Mr Lawless still maintains the view that while stock levels have remained low throughout the Covid pandemic, they have been a factor in helping to insulate home values. 

“Through the Covid Pandemic to-date, active listing numbers have remained extremely low, demonstrating both a lower than average amount of fresh stock being added to the market and a strong rate of absorption. So far, there has been no evidence of urgent or distressed listings starting to pile up,” he said.

Source: Emily Ng Open Agent Blog