Well, what a year it has been thus far. So much has happened since our last update in February. We are currently in lockdown again, so this will present challenges and opportunities for those seeking to buy or sell property over this period.

Highlights

• National home values rose 1.9% in June, taking annual growth to 13.5% for the financial year
• Sydney was up 2.6% in June, 8.2% for the quarter and 15% for the year
• This is the highest annual rate of growth seen across the Australian residential property market since April 2004
• The auction clearance rate has hovered around 90% for most of the year and it will still remain high even with live auctions cancelled as we move to online auctions
• Interest rates remaining on hold at 0.1% and intention to hold until 2024
• The National vacancy rate fell in June to 1.7%, which is well done from 2.2% in June last year
• Currently listings are down 22% on last year
• Total stock advertised in June was 24.4% below the five year average

My outlook for the remainder of 2021 – I believe that property prices will increase between now and the end of 2021, although not at the same pace as the past 6 months and freestanding houses will out perform apartments over this period.