Stuck Australians still searching for their perfect place

“Buyer search activity was higher week-on-week across all states and territories with the greatest increases recorded in Victoria and New South Wales, while the most moderate increases were in the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland,” the report has found.

Every state and territory has recorded a year-on-year increase in excess of 30 per cent with the greatest jumps experienced in the NT and ACT, while the most moderate annual jumps were in Queensland and Western Australia.

REA groups executive manager, economic research Cameron Kusher believes buyers are still evolving to these new conditions facing the market.

“I think the good news is the housing market is still open for business. Yes things are a bit slower than they have been, it’s a bit more of a challenging environment in order to sell or lease a property but we are still seeing transaction activity, albeit not as strong as before we entered this shutdown period,” Mr Kusher explained.

What to make of the data?

It appears that curious Aussies are still interested in residential property although they are waiting for the right time to purchase, suggests REA’s insights.

“From a vendor or rental property owners’ perspective, it’s good news that people are actively looking at properties, even though the activity may not necessarily translate into a sale or rental immediately,” the report noted.

Agents and vendors should note that although transactions will be lower throughout COVID-19, interest remains high and people appear to be planning their next move whether that be a purchase or rental.

However, Mr Kusher remains unsure about whether Australians are simply looking or if they are looking to buy.

“We are seeing demand holding up reasonably well. We are seeing more search activity than we were a year ago, we have seen consecutive weeks in which search activity has increased,” Mr Kusher concluded.

“But what we are not really clear on is whether that will translate into transactions. People are sitting at home with not much to do, everything about their home annoying them. So they are probably looking for a new property but I am not sure if they will act on it straight away.”