From The Desk Of Our CEO - October 2020

It has been a busy time in more ways than one. The first being our relocation. We are now physically in our new location at the new Catalyst Building located at Shop 2, 5 Junction Parade Midland. Although it was only a small trip up the road from our old location, it was moving twenty years of accumulated documents, furniture and what most of us would term as crap. Good time for a clean out though. It’s amazing how much stationery and marketing material you find and you wonder what was I thinking when I bought this but thought it was a good idea at the time. If only you could get a refund for stupidity at times. The team have worked hard to make the move as smooth as possible and hopefully we haven’t inconvenienced anyone. We understand there has been a few disruptions with phones but as you know if you have dealt with the communication companies, it is a challenge in itself.

Now let’s get focused on what we do for everyone and that is real estate which has entered an interesting phase at present with sales on the improve and lower vacancy rates. Covid has taken us on a quite a ride. Sadly on the east coast they have been hit heavily but fortunately for us, being the isolated state, we have not been impacted in the same fashion. Our economy has rebounded quicker, we were seeing positive signs for the real estate market prior to covid and now we have clicked back into gear. So what we are seeing now is property sales on the increase and average time on the market less. In terms of prices, we are seeing more interest in property and at times multiple offers which creates competition and thus owners are seeing better results. Now that can vary from suburb to suburb as well as price ranges, some ranges are more popular than others due to affordability. The main thing is inquiry is up. The same also with rentals, we are seeing some of the largest numbers in years attending open for inspections.

The number of rentals available has come down around fifty percent, keeping in mind though that we were at record highs not that long ago for numbers available to rent with low rents. We are seeing pressure for rents to go up as this demand continues but once again, dependent on the area and availability, the most important thing is we are seeing real activity that we have not seen for a long time. Now as you can imagine I am being asked “when is the boom coming”, “what should I do?” and “will I get more in the future?” My advice is simple, what is your goal first and then we can work on how can we achieve it. If the question is, do you think going forward prices will be more stable and potential for growth, the answer is yes and same with rentals based on what we are seeing today.

There will always be hurdles or considerations going forward and we have still have international challenges with covid which affects many Australians’ employment and opportunities. There is a US election coming up which will have some impact on the world and at present they are at a cross road until a solution is found to better handle the virus or find a cure. We are also seeing this in Europe as well and who knows what really is happening in Asia and Africa. We only know our own backyard. So, to follow up on what I said earlier is there a boom coming, the answer I think at this stage is no but will we continue see improvement I think the answer is yes. Besides, following a boom there is a bust usually so who wants to go through that again.

The affects of the recent adjustment in both Federal and State budgets will unfold over the next six months. Most appears positive but we need to also remember that the winding back of JobKeeper and JobSeeker may have some impact as well in the second quarter of next year. Overall though 2021 looks positive and fingers crossed it is.

– Written by Milton Rendell, CEO – Real Estate Plus Group