Share house residents are among those accelerating plans to buy property despite turmoil caused by COVID-19.
Victorians living in share houses are believed to be bringing forward their plans to buy their own property after months spent working from home.
The claim follows a June property aspirations and buyer confidence survey that showed almost three quarters of the state were worried job security issues caused by COVID-19 would affect their ability to buy a home — before Melbourne started a stage four lockdown.
Despite the concerns, the survey found one in four people have accelerated their real estate dreams despite the virus’ economic impacts, according to the report compiled for mortgage broker Aussie.
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Chief customer officer David Smith said he believed part of this was share house residents.
“There are people in shared houses who were thinking about buying in a year or so, but have shared a house with two or three others where everyone is working from home, and have brought forward their plans,” Mr Smith said.
Hocking Stuart Werribee auctioneer Samantha McCarthy said she too had seen the trend.
A week before Melbourne’s stage-four lockdown came into place Ms McCarthy sold 19 Rutman Close, Werribee to a first-home buyer who had been living with friends in nearby Deer Park.
19 Rutman Close, Werribee sold to a first-home buyer who had been living with friends just before the city went into stage four lockdown.
“We will see a lot more people come out looking at property after this lockdown,” Ms McCarthy said.
“For many, they are seeing 20 things about their home they don’t like. Or they are over living with a friend.”
She said modern homes and those that had been renovated would be high on shopping lists, with buyer uncertainty over resolving renovation projects potentially set to linger after the current stage four lockdown put many on hold. Homes with a second living area would also likely be more in demand.
In addition to 72 per cent of buyers being worried job security would affect their home aspirations, the Aussie survey also showed 60 per cent of Victorians had changed their real estate plans in response to COVID-19 by mid June.
Mr Smith said these figures were likely to have worsened as the stage four lockdown had subsequently hit confidence further.
However, with Melbourne’s COVID-19 case numbers now falling, he said the only way to go from here was up.
“Three in four might well be concerned, but they are expecting things to turn around at a reasonable pace,” Mr Smith said.
“(And) anecdotally, from our broker conversations, there aren’t discounts — they are seeing purchasers go after properties and seeing sellers holding their ground on prices in Melbourne.”
The three-bedroom Rutman Close house comes with plenty of space to spread out in.
The survey also showed about 42 per cent of Victorians wanted to make a property move today, but were uncertain of new rules around finance with many lenders now asking pointed questions about employment and JobKeeper payments.
“For those who are still employed, which is still the majority of people, the lending criteria are confusing but not insurmountable,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith said Aussie franchises in Melbourne’s west were still seeing high demand from prospective buyers, accounting for half of the activity with one broker — alongside refinancing.
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