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Brisbane auctions have never been more popular. Place Estate Agents chief auctioneer Peter Burgin in action. Picture: Annette Dew
THE Queensland property market will ‘come back with a vengeance’ after pausing to ensure it complies with government directives to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant, the state’s peak industry body says, but there are unknowns in the weeks ahead.
“This one will test us,” Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO, Antonia Mercorella said.
“The point of this lockdown is to try to get on top of this so we don’t end up with a situation like what we’ve seen rolling out in New South Wales.”
Under the lockdown arrangements which began last Saturday, onsite auctions across South East Queensland are once again banned, with all being conducted via online platforms such as GAVL and Auction Now, while home inspections are restricted to one person with an agent if they cannot be shown through virtually.
WHAT THE LOCKDOWN MEANS FOR YOU AND YOUR HOME
– House and rental property inspections: By appointment only. One person plus an agent at any point in time, with mask-wearing, QR code activation, and the Covid-safe checklist in place.
– Auctions: Online only with bidders participating via phone or online, or postpone auctions until after the lockdown.
– Moving house: Government recognises that legal obligations must be met when it comes to buying/selling and moving in/out of rental properties so certain activities can proceed that relate to this. The REIQ urging such activity to be done ‘in a responsible fashion’.
– Building and pest inspections: Where there is a time-sensitive requirement to satisfy a legal obligation through a building or pest inspection, or finance conditions then a valuer or building and pest inspector can come through the property.
– Home maintenance: Emergency repairs are allowed (ie: repairs to hot water, water blockages, toilet not working) otherwise the REIQ is encouraging any non-essential renovating or home improvements to be delayed until after the lockdown.
“We’ve been quite fortunate in Queensland, we’ve had short lockdowns,” Ms Mercorella said.
“This is obviously one of the longer ones. We hope it will end on Sunday, but based on what we’ve seen, we press pause on things, then we come back with a vengeance. And certainly the property market has been performing in a way that none of us expected. The demand for rental housing, the demand for properties that are for sale, it’s the strongest we’ve seen in a very long time.”
Onsite auctions can be very social occasions but now all bidders will be able to stay home while they bid over the phone or online. Picture: Annette Dew
Ray White Queensland Chief Executive Officer Jason Andrew is demonstrating his belief in the market by listing one of his own investment properties during this week’s lockdown, a one-bedroom apartment at 2/21 Dixon St, New Farm that will go auction on August 25.
“We are now incredibly well-versed at this,” Mr Andrew said. “We probably would have seen 15,000 auctions go through this system so far, since last year.
“We don’t see a drop in scheduled auctions, but conducted auctions, yes, they are postponed.”
He said Ray White’s national clearance rate passed 80 per cent last week, despite Sydney being in lockdown and Queensland announcing it would go into lockdown and Melbourne and South Australia coming out of lockdown.
Ms Mercorella said interstate interest in moving to Queensland would not be affected by the current lockdown as Queensland would continue to be seen as ‘a great place to be in a pandemic, if there is such a thing’.
“We have fabulous weather, outdoor space, the dollar goes a lot further in Queensland compared to Sydney and Melbourne, so we offer greater affordability, but it’s also liveability that we offer and when you’re going through a pandemic like this, those things are really important.”
Federal Treasury estimates Queensland will gain around 20,000 people from interstate each year for the next four years while Victoria and New South Wales are set to lose residents.
“We are selling sight unseen to people from Melbourne, Singapore and Sydney,” Adcock Prestige principal Jason Adcock said.
Jason Adcock has recently expanded his real estate company to meet demand. Picture: Annette Dew
“We have just sold 67 Lockerbie St, Kangaroo Point sight unseen to a couple from Melbourne, unconditional for $2.3 million.
“Ever since the announcement that Brisbane is getting the Olympics, it has gone up five gears in the Brisbane prestige property market. That is being driven not only by Melbourne and Sydney and expat buyers but the local buyers who think that the Brisbane market is going to surge for the next few years and they want to get in now.”
Mr Adcock said lockdowns served as another market driver, giving buyers and sellers time to test their home’s functionality under lockdown conditions and make the decision to move.
“A lockdown gets people focused on if they are happy with their current abode and if they are going to be spending more time there, they want better homes with more space and work from home facilities, so these lockdowns make our market stronger. My advice to anybody thinking of selling is to get your property on the market now.”
Apollo Auctions director Justin Nickerson said strong buyer depth will carry Queensland’s property market through this latest lockdown with an average of six bidders turning up to every auction.
Justin Nickerson says auction interest will continue despite the lockdown. Picture: Annette Dew
“The auction results didn’t miss a beat last week, even with an eleventh-hour move of many auctions to the virtual format,” Mr Nickerson said.
The latest data from realestate.com.au shows Brisbane’s auction clearance rate stands at 84 per cent and the 26 bidders who turned up for the auction of 64 Stoneleigh St, Albion last Saturday were the largest group of bidders in the country for Ray White Group.
The auction day crowd at 64 Stoneleigh St, Albion on Saturday. Picture: Ray White
“We’ve been here before, it’s not new to us,” Place Newmarket estate agent Ross Armstrong said of the switch to online auctions during lockdown.
“I’ve got a couple of auctions this weekend and buyers are still saying they are confident to bid and register online.”
He said southern buyers have been buying property sight unseen since the pandemic began and last weekend, 16 Brisbane St, Ashgrove sold to a family moving up from Sydney for almost $2 million.
This house at 16 Brisbane St, Ashgrove, sold to interstate buyers just half an hour before SEQ’s lockdown began on Saturday, for $1.91 million.
“But they’ve had a good look through on Zoom,” he said of the popular online video conferencing service.
Ms Mercorella said the advice to anyone engaging with the real estate industry for now was to use common sense.
“We’re dealing with shelter and health. People do need shelter and obviously when tenancies end, people rely on people moving on. But our messaging is: let’s try to do that in a way that minimises contact. We are really encouraging people not to go ahead with activities unless it is absolutely necessary, and if so, only one person in the house with you (for an inspection), and a bit of a break in between that person and the next.
“If I was looking at putting my house on the market at the moment, (the lockdown) slows you down. In the current environment you can’t get the gardener and painter out to do all those bits you need to do to get it ready for sale.
“So properties due to go on the market, they will be suspended but I think in the end when the lockdown ceases, those properties will end up on the market and demand will be there. If the last 18 months are anything to go by, lockdowns seem to bring about some sort of accelerated demand.”