Market Essentials - August 2020

This Month in Review

This month the Federal Government announced the extension of the JobKeeper program for a further six months, along with the JobSeeker supplement also being extended.

Combined with more targeted extensions to the ‘mortgage holiday’ on repayments, many Australians will be breathing a sigh of relief as they’re given additional time to manage their financial affairs through the pandemic.

The Australian Banking Association announced that “the next stage of support will be specifically targeted to getting people back on repayments while continuing to help those hardest hit”.

Despite signs of rebounding rental values over the six months to March 2020, Core Logic’s Head of Research, Eliza Owen, stated that “closed international borders created a significant shock to rental demand, as historically the majority of new migrants to Australia have been renters”.

The ABS reports that new finance commitments for the purchase of property fell by a record 11.6% during May 2020; the largest single monthly drop in the 18-year data series. However, when comparing this data against Core Logic’s sales volumes estimates, it appears that while housing finance may have bottomed out in May, sales activity rebounded 29.5% over June, indicating growing buyer interest post-lockdown.

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The Market Essentials Report is compiled by Buyside on behalf of Loanscape.  Founded by Josh Masters, Buyside are registered buyer's agents with on the ground expertise in the Sydney and Brisbane property markets.