I spoke to a mate of mine this week. He was chasing some advice on his lease and an update on the prestige rental market. He sold his property a couple of years ago and did well selling right at the peak of the Covid-19 boom. At the time, he took a view that the market couldn’t continue to rise – so he chose to rent in the short-term and wait to pick up some value in the downturn. Initially, he was right.
In late 2022, the market paused, even retracted in some areas. But then, in 2023, it started to build in strength and today we are now back past that previous peak. My mate has been watching the market and in our discussions he has admitted that his apprehension to buy back in is coming from that decision to sit out of the market. While he was right in his prediction that there would be a downturn, who would have thought it would only last six months!
All those fixed-interest loans coming off 2 per cent interest rates, surely that would lead to distressed sales – and it did. But standing there waiting to buy them was a wave of buyers driven by low unemployment and nowhere to live.
That competition is what upheld prices. As our conversation finished, I said to my friend, I know it hurts paying more for a house today than you had to pay two years ago but it’s better than how you’ll feel if you have to pay even more next year.
Cush for Comment March 10th
I spoke to a mate of mine this week. He was chasing some advice on his lease and an update on the prestige rental market. He sold his property a couple of years ago and did well selling right at the peak of the Covid-19 boom. At the time, he took a view that the market couldn’t continue to rise – so he chose to rent in the short-term and wait to pick up some value in the downturn. Initially, he was right.
In late 2022, the market paused, even retracted in some areas. But then, in 2023, it started to build in strength and today we are now back past that previous peak. My mate has been watching the market and in our discussions he has admitted that his apprehension to buy back in is coming from that decision to sit out of the market. While he was right in his prediction that there would be a downturn, who would have thought it would only last six months!
All those fixed-interest loans coming off 2 per cent interest rates, surely that would lead to distressed sales – and it did. But standing there waiting to buy them was a wave of buyers driven by low unemployment and nowhere to live.
That competition is what upheld prices. As our conversation finished, I said to my friend, I know it hurts paying more for a house today than you had to pay two years ago but it’s better than how you’ll feel if you have to pay even more next year.