With 57% of household wealth held in housing, it’s understandable that Aussies have a keen interest in the direction of house prices as residential real estate is central to our wealth goals.  

And it seems plenty of buyers are taking their goals seriously right now, with our 300-strong office network across Australia reporting almost 8% more people attending open homes in September than last year’s bull market run.

More properties are also coming onto the market at much the same pace as the bull market of Spring 2021. Angus Raine, Executive Chairman, Raine & Horne, “This means there is no shortage of opportunities for buyers to find a dream home at a great price.”

Property versus shares – it’s a knockout victory for bricks and mortar

Compared to the wild ride those invested in shares are experiencing now, bricks and mortar regardless of where the market currently sits on the property clock, is a fantastic long-term wealth haven.

Tim Lawless, Executive, Research Director, Asia-Pacific, CoreLogic said residential property is rarely ‘traded’ like shares where values can change rapidly in a matter of hours. The ASX 200 plunged 9.7% wiping out $160 billion in values in a single day back in March 2020.

“Housing is illiquid and comes with extremely high transactional costs such as stamp duty, conveyancing costs, and expenses associated with due diligence, along with long settlement periods and a high financial commitment,” Tim said.

That’s not a correction

To add more perspective to the latest real estate news, the current situation hardly even qualifies as a correction. Consider the latest numbers – AMP reported that US shares plummeted 9.3% in September and global shares were down 8.5%. Australian shares fell 7.3% in September. In comparison, research from CoreLogic showed Australian housing values softened by a modest 1.4% in September.

Angus Raine said “When you compare how property is performing compared to the hit to Australian shares in the last week of September, the situation is hardly worth getting worked up about.

“Also, what the market commentary is ignoring is the dramatic run up in prices over the last two years that reduce the recent minor blips to simply blowing some froth off the top of the massive growth property owners have enjoyed since the beginning of the pandemic.

In a new trend, plenty of homeowners are cashing in on the incredible gains made during the pandemic, when home values skyrocketed up to 47%. 

“This has left Australians sitting on massive amounts of home equity, and our offices are reporting an average 40% jump in appraisals as smart homeowners take profits made over the last two years. 

Drilling down, Tasmania was the standout in September with appraisals up 26% according to the Raine & Horne data with NSW the next best where appraisals are up almost 10% compared to the first month of spring last year.

“This is a super positive as appraisals are usually a yardstick of real estate sales strength two to three months down the track,” Angus said.

With spring fever hitting the market, there really has never been a better time to speak to your local Raine & Horne property expert – and start kicking your property goals today.