Welcome to our February 2021 Newsletter
Well, so much has happened since our last update in December.
There was a second wave of Corona virus cases, the Northern Beaches went into lockdown, holiday plans were cancelled and the “stay-cation” became the new normal.
Highlights
I am honoured to be name the 2021 Buyers Agent of the Year
2021 has started extremely strong, with the auction clearance rate hovering around 90% which are the strongest numbers since 1997
We are often seeing over 100 groups of people at open homes and some auctions have attracted more than 20 registered bidders
The unemployment rate is dropping, consumer confidence is up, there are government grants, the vaccine rollout, household savings is up
More people are looking for larger homes, or tree change or seachange
An increase in demand for Inner City apartments – particularly from First homebuyers entering the market.
Earlier this month the RBA met and are leaving the cashrate at 0.1%, which is the lowest ever. Homebuyers are able to get interest rates below 2%, and we expect it to stay this low for years to come
We are seeing record numbers of people re-financing their home loans enabling homeowners to lock in the lower rates.
There are unlikely to be a lot of forced sales, as mortgage deferral rates are down to 2.4% from the peak of 11% in May 2020.
Numbers of properties on the market is still very low, down around 20% on this time last year, with many sellers not wanting to sell until they have bought.
The HIA reports that new home sales had their second-best month on record in December 2020, partly off the back of the Homebuyer stimulus which ends next month
From January 2020 to January 2021, property prices have increased 2.2% in Sydney and regional NSW by 8.2%. Properties are selling quicker than last year – both in Metropolian and regional NSW
2021 is going to be a very busy and buoyant year for the property market