Economic indicators for Property Investment are strong
According to RP Data, with the exception of economic conditions, most ‘Spring selling season’ indicators for the residential market are stronger compared to this time last year.
Cameron Kusher, RP Data research analyst, says the lead-up to the residential Spring selling season is looking more positive, when compared to the same time last year.
However, Kusher says, the question is whether or not momentum will continue throughout the traditional selling season.
“In Spring we begin to see uplift in listings activity with more properties available for sale and subsequently an increase in auction activity. Spring also sees an improvement in the number of property sales, especially following winter, which is usually a slow period for the housing market,” Kusher says.
“Spring 2011 delivered somewhat of a disappointing selling season with sales volumes across the combined capital cities down by 3 percent, lower than they were in the Spring of 2010 and with no noticeable improvement from volumes in Autumn. The amount of stock available for sale during this period was continually increasing throughout the period to historic high levels and home values were falling across each capital city market,” he says.
According to RP Data, with the exception of economic conditions, most indicators are stronger compared with this time last year.
“Overall, we’ve seen some positive movements for home values with new stock being added to the market lower and each of the vendor metrics (selling time, vendor discounting and auction clearance rates) all showing an improvement,” Kusher says.
Despite a more positive trend for many indicators, when compared with those of 2011 , a comparison with the longer-term trend shows many of these indicators are moving off a low base.
“Overall, the data indicates that generally the housing market is now in a stronger position than it was 12 months ago. Considering this, the Spring selling season should be stronger this year than it was last year. However, in comparison to recent years we would not expect the housing market to power along through Spring in the manner that it has previously,” Kusher says.