Brighter Buying

These are the people buying during COVID

by Kate Watt, Marketing Manager 13 August 2020

Across Australia buyer activity dropped in March, then increased in the months that followed before a slight softening in the month of June … so what does that tell us?

First of all, it tells us a lot of Aussies are still pursuing the dream of buying their own home.

But it’s not just homeowners active in the market – investors are still out shopping for good value.

In fact, investors, first home buyers and upgraders were all more active in June, according to realestate.com.au.

This aligns with our observations locally, where we’re seeing continued buyer demand and sellers feeling more confident to test the market.

The value of new home loan commitments across Australia in June was $17.4 billion, which was 6.2 per cent higher than the month prior.

This comprised $4.4 billion to investors, $3.8 billion to owner-occupier first home buyers and $9.2 billion to owner-occupier subsequent purchasers.

That represents an 8.8 per cent increase in investor lending from May.

Existing homeowners refinanced $13.3 billion in June following a mega month for refinancing in May.

On the whole, the data continues to point to a resilient Aussie property market.

But tighter restrictions in Victoria will have an effect on their market and may affect buyer confidence further afield, writes Cameron Kusher for REA Insights.

“Overall the data points to improving housing market demand, which is clearly evident based on data from realestate.com.au. However, it is important to remember this improvement will take some time to become evident in the official housing finance data.”

Want to add your own home purchase to the stats? View our current listings for sale or talk to us about selling.