Property news of the day
Transcript
“Hello and welcome back to daily buying tips I’m Dean Berman from Berman Buys.
Today we’re going to talk about the main property news of the day.
2 days ago property inspections weren’t allowed in Melbourne. As of 11am today, they are.
Extensive talks were undertaken over the weekend between the REIV and consumer affairs Victoria.
It seems one of the key points may have been the argument that “shelter is a basic human need”, implying the real estate agent service would be essential and necessary with the relevant safeguards to stop the spread.
I think this makes sense, as it preserves a lot of jobs, provided the distancing and safety measures are thoroughly adhered too, which from my experience so far, seems to be the case.
Another article on 9news.com.au, comments on a survey by Finder of 969 respondents, stating 42% of the respondents think now is a surprisingly good time to buy property, despite the challenges presented by the virus.
I would agree, but also say that being in the market, ready to buy is the best strategy over the coming months i.e. having finance ready to go and ready to purchase the correct opportunity.
SQM just released some figures on the best and worst case scenarios for what may happen to prices around Australia. There figures vary from +3% growth to -30% decline. This is a fairly vast difference in my opinion. Both scenarios are based on a number of factors such as when restrictions are lifted and whether there is a second wave of infections with further lockdowns, creating greater unemployment.
I think certain markets will be more impacted than other markets and certainly unemployment will be the key driver.
Mr Christopher does state “If we are able to get back too close to normal business by [the] end of May (I certainly don’t think all restrictions will be lifted by that time), then I think confidence in the housing market is going to return.”
This article on the $220m residential rent relief, talks about tenants who fall into rental arrears after losing their income due to the virus, will not be allowed to be evicted under new measures announced by the NSW government. However, according to the article in NSW, any unpaid rent will accrue during this period.
The government has also included financial support for landlords via land tax waivers and rebates. However, the article does mention only 16% of landlords pay land tax, which may limit the effect and most mom and dad investors will probably not have a land tax threshold above $734k (i.e. the value of the accumulated land value), meaning the relief would be limited.”