Source: Corelogic - Eliza Owen   COVID-19 has brought about downside risks for the economy and housing market. A 0.3% decline in March GDP confirmed a technical recession is underway in Australia, total wages paid fell 5.4% between mid-March and early May, and Australian dwelling market values saw the first month-on-month decline since June 2019. But one surprising sign of stabilising emerged in May. Home sales have risen, with home owners testing the mar...

Source:  McCarthy Durie Lawyers - Jon McCarthy As this financial year draws to a close it is time to consider the things that we can capitalise on going into 2020/2021. The 'new normal' demands that we focus our efforts to produce leaner more efficient businesses able to capitalise on opportunities that an economy in recovery presents. Everything must be 'on the table' service offering, staffing, premises, IT, working hours and locations everything! In normal tim...

Source:  SMH - Stephen Bartholemeusz How do you value anything in the time of the coronavirus? Things are, of course, being valued. Shares, bonds, property and businesses are being traded despite the raft of uncertainties spawned by the coronavirus pandemic. Whether it's a share, a property - or a business like Virgin Australia -prospective buyers are having to think through the impacts of the pandemic on the particular asset. They know some businesses will be impacted more sever...

Source:  Australian Property Journal RESIDENTIAL vacancy rates surged across the country in April, with CBDs and holiday destinations feeling the full force of the COVID-19 outbreak as the Sydney and Brisbane city markets hit record highs. SQM Research shows the national rate jumped from 2.0% in March to 2.6%, with the total number of vacancies Australia-wide now at 88,668 vacant residential properties. All states recorded increases in rates with the exception of Darwin, which record...

Source: CoreLogic The Reserve Bank has announced a 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate, to a new historic low of 0.25% and made it clear the cash rate will remain at this level until labour markets are moving towards full employment and inflation is tracking to be within the target range of 2-3%. Under normal circumstances, such an extraordinary move from the Reserve Bank might be greeted with renewed optimism towards housing market activity. Research from the Reserve Bank points to...

Source:  Australian Property Journal According to the latest CoreLogic Home Value Index, Melbourne saw the sharpest reversal in conditions over the months, with values ticking down by 0.3%. Sydney values rose 0.4%, but both cities averaged monthly growth of around 1.7% over the previous six months. Most regions recorded a rise in home values, but the national monthly pace of growth eased from 0.7% in March to 0.3%. The April result was the smallest month on month movement since a f...

Source:  NGU Real Estate - Ipswich Local Sales and Rental Update This last month for our Property Management Team has been a busy & an unusual one. From changing our daily practices through to making sure our clients and their properties are being managed at a high level. We are proud of our team and their commitment to their positions. This April we have rented 29 properties which is a mammoth month for our office. Sales is also still strong. We believe at this stage our market ...

Source: Corelogic The economic slowdown resultant from COVID-19 has changed working conditions for many. But quantifying the impact on labour markets at this stage is difficult. The latest unemployment data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics does not tell us much about how the labour market has changed. That is because labour market data is not real time, but instead references the first two weeks of the previous month to the data release date. The start of the economic slowdown...

Source: IRWA - Shellie Rabago   I'm always excited to get a new project. Although I realize it means that I will be crazy busy for the next few months, it also means I have the opportunity to meet an eclectic group of people I wouldn't typically get the chance to encounter. Over the past several years I have worked with many large corporations, families and even a few famous people. Convincing owners to sell their property to a condemning agency, even if it's a partial ...

Source:  Brisbane Times Given the rapid deterioration in Australia's economic outlook as the coronavirus causes the closure of borders and restrictions on movement, global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs now forecast the sharpest annual GDP contraction since the Great Depression of the 1920s. The Australian economy will shrink 6 per cent in 2020 versus last year, economists led by Andrew Boak wrote in a report dated March 20. Most of the contraction is expected to be d...