- Property sales volumes are 1/3 higher over 2021 compared to last year
- Increased email enquiries (interest) in houses
- HomeBuilder announcement in mid-2020 responsible for increased email enquiries in vacant land
According to REA Group‘s Housing Market Indicators Report for this month, property sales volumes are now a third higher over the first 11 weeks of 2021 compared to the same time period last year.
In line with the notable trend of rising house prices, demand based on the number of views per listing on realestate.com.au has reached historic highs over recent months.
Search volumes on the site are now more than 50% higher than they were a year ago. Search behaviour shows that Australians are now searching for fewer low-price properties and more properties with a list price above $1 million.
Cameron Kusher, REA Group Director of Economic Research and REA Insights Housing Market Indicators Report author, said unprecedented buyer demand had resulted in unseasonably strong transaction activity.
“Transaction volumes nationally were 41 percent higher last week than they were over the same week last year, indicating that buying and selling have returned much earlier and stronger than what we saw last year, which was before the national lockdown.
“With borrowing costs at historic lows, we would expect that transaction activity will remain strong over the coming weeks. The biggest challenge for the market remains the low volume of stock available for sale. However, new supply does appear to be increasing.”
Camerson Kusher, REA Group Director of Economic Research
The majority of email enquiries to residential agents are information about houses, accounting for 63.% of enquiries in February 2021. Relative to a year ago, the amount of enquiries regarding houses has increased by 79.7%, compared to a 51.5% increase for units.
Mid-2020 marked the beginning of a surge in enquiries for vacant land due to the announcement of HomeBuilder.
“HomeBuilder has driven an increase in demand from first home buyers while tough rental market conditions due to the closure of international borders has led to relatively low growth in enquiry from investors,” observed Mr Kusher.
“With HomeBuilder set to end at the end of March 2021, and investor enquiry rising, it will be interesting to see how these trends evolve over the remainder of this year.”
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