“Australia’s housing market is springing back to life after the holiday break, which typically brings a seasonal slowdown. The Omicron variant remains a distraction, but so far the housing market is off to a strong start – though not yet a match for 2021’s historic year,” Ms Creagh said.
In the regions, South Australia experienced an extraordinary 92.4 per cent increase and NSW at 68 per cent. Regional areas in each respective state, except for the Northern Territory, had seen views-per-listing jump by more than 35 per cent year-on-year. “Demand is likely to continue easing from peak levels as new listings are likely to remain elevated, with would-be sellers responding to the strong price growth witnessed last year,” she added.
“Demand remains strong and borrowing costs remain low, despite fixed rates having begun to climb. The pace of price growth is moderating, but it would be reasonable to expect a further increase in higher priced searches as the hottest property market in decades has pushed housing prices higher Australia-wide,” Ms Creagh reported.By October 2021, email inquiries from buyers via realestate.com.au hit a record high and has since fallen by 20.
“Investor inquiry climbed steadily through 2021 and is now 30.4 per cent higher year-on-year, with the share of inquiry from investors hovering around the highest level recorded in more than three years. This is another reason why we could see increased demand for units.”