Auctions go digital during lockdown, and house prices in suburbs across all capital cities soar as we enter August.

It seems that not even the economic uncertainty of continued lockdown events has dampened the countries appetite for real estate. In a survey conducted by Finder.com, close to one in seven Australians are reported to be considering a property purchase within the next six months. Approximately 7 per cent of those were looking to buy property as an investment.

Sales of luxury inner-city and CBD apartments are also on the rise, with buyers spending big money on prestige property with state of the art security and top of the line fixtures, finishes and amenities. Property traditionally sold to overseas buyers is now being marketed almost exclusively to domestic buyers.

House sellers continue to benefit as the property buying frenzy persists across the country. Meanwhile, leading economists have predicted that interest rates could start to increase as early as November 2022, well ahead of the RBA’s 2024 timeline.

Forward indicators predict a tightening labour market, increases in wages and inflation as early as mid-2022. Combined with the current ‘cheap credit’ on offer and the fastest month-on-month growth in the property market in 33 years, many buyers may soon find higher interest rates beyond reach.

Strong conditions in the Australian housing market continue, and June is expected to be another real estate ‘Groundhog Day’.

While more sellers have been lifting asking prices midway through campaigns compared to previous years, Domain’s Dr Nicola Powell says that this trend is easing and “proves that the strong pace of price growth recorded this year is unlikely to continue at such a rapid rate”.

Australia’s combined capital city median house price notched the sharpest quarterly increase in more than eighteen years, with Sydney and Canberra showing the fastest acceleration.

Meanwhile, thousands of investors are expected to offload apartments in the Sydney and Melbourne CBD, with a new survey by ME bank showing that 23% of investors want to sell their property in the next 12 months due to higher vacancy rates and plummeting rents in the CBD.

As we enter May, the housing market in every state capital continues to surge. A combination of increased consumer confidence, record low-interest rates, low stock rates and the all-consuming fear of missing out has sent buyers into a frenzy. Buyers want to stake their claim in a market that to date has shown no signs of slowing.

CoreLogic has just released a report indicating that during the March quarter, the Australian property market grew at the fastest rate in thirty-three years. However, Head of Research, Tim Lawless, predicts that “the pace of capital gain will gradually taper over the coming months. There has been a marked lift in new listings coming to the market relative to prior years”, he said. As more vendors take advantage of the strong selling conditions, Mr Lawless suggests that there will be a “rebalancing between buyer and sellers”. In addition, there are fewer government-stimulus measures now available, as well as affordability constraints.

The Australian property market is booming. Prices returned to record highs in January and February saw the sharpest monthly increase in house prices since August 2003. Primarily due to record-low interest rates, a strong economy and high buyer demand against very low stock volumes. Analysts are still scratching their heads and wondering where it will all end.

Despite continued market growth however, there are concerns that with the Federal Government stimulus measures expiring at the end of March, the boom may be interrupted. Just what impact the end of JobKeeper, mortgage holidays, and the HomeBuilder grants will have remains to be seen.

Still, with house prices continuing to rise, investors returning to the market and banks lending more easily, the overall impact is likely to be minimal.