Australia Property Market Thrives Despite Corona

Australians are facing tough new measures to stop the spread of Coronavirus, but healthy clearance rates in Melbourne (72%) and Sydney (74%) suggest the property market is yet to be impacted. Transactions for the month of January in key cities are up on the same period last year, with a record 1,066 auctions scheduled in Melbourne and 520 in Sydney last week, although it’s unclear what the coming months might bring.

The virus has also seemingly yet to affect first home buyer enquiry levels. It’s likely that the recent cut in interest rates, the government’s help-to-buy scheme roll-out with just a 5% deposit down and various state government incentives are providing a decent boost to activity.

The suburbs and types of housing generating the highest levels of enquiry at present, are dominated by Sydney and Melbourne. Melbourne CBD property topped the list, followed by Footscray and Parramatta. The most expensive suburb on the list is Randwick, where the median price for a unit is $940,000. This is almost double the median price for a unit in Melbourne’s CBD.