Fewer Sydneysiders are pounding the pavement in search of their next home during the city’s ongoing lockdown, but inspection numbers have remained relatively high in some pockets.
Home inspections in Sydney have dropped by more than a quarter during lockdown, Domain figures show, with the largest declines seen in the city’s south-west — where multiple local government areas face tougher restrictions — and the smallest drops in the city’s east and outer west.
The average number of home inspections in Greater Sydney was down 26 per cent over the four weeks to August 15, compared to the same time period pre-lockdown, amid the city’s ongoing stay-at-home orders.
While in-person auctions and open-home inspections are banned under the orders, pre-booked one-on-one inspections are allowed for those looking for a potential new place of residence in Greater Sydney.
The average number of weekly inspections per property had fallen in late June when the Sydney lockdown began but had been fairly consistent since, said Nicola Powell, chief of research and economics at Domain. Activity had even picked up in recent weeks, she said, with average inspections up 6.8 per cent on the previous four-week period.
“Lockdowns don’t change decisions, they delay decisions, and for some people, it gets to the point where they need to move,” Dr Powell said of the recent uptick.
In addition to strong buyer demand, the short supply of homes hitting the market – down 11.3 per cent from the previous four-week period – was also supporting the average number of inspections per home, Dr Powell said.
In the city’s outer south-west, average inspections per property were down about 40 per cent on pre-lockdown volumes – with half of that decline seen in the past four weeks – hitting an absolute low in early August, Dr Powell said, before rebounding a little.
Activity is also down more than 30 per cent from June levels in the city’s north-west, south-west, northern beaches and Ryde regions. And by more than 20 per cent in the city centre and inner-south, north-shore, inner south-west, inner-west, Blacktown and Sutherland regions.
By comparison, inspections in the eastern suburbs were down 10.9 per cent, while in-person viewings in the outer west and Blue Mountains fell 11.4 per cent.
Dr Powell said inspections in the eastern suburbs were still down significantly since the start of the year, but heated competition in the market – which saw the median house price jump more than 26 per cent over the year to June – may have led to less of a decline in lockdown.
Nick Papas, director of Century 21 Eastern Beaches Maroubra, said inspections numbers had seen a very slight slowdown, while the volume of homes coming on the market in the east and south-east had dropped by at least 20 to 30 per cent.
“Last week was crazy – we did 54 one-on-one inspections between three properties,” he said, noting the vast majority of buyers still wanted to do in-person inspections.
Only serious sellers were on the market right now, with lockdown deterring anyone looking to test the market, Mr Papas said. And the buyers coming through were ready to transact, with many having spent months searching for a home in Sydney’s booming market.
By comparison, lockdown has seen inspection numbers more than halve for selling agent Blaz Dejanovic of Blaze Real Estate, based in the Fairfield local government area where there are tougher restrictions. However, thanks to fewer browsers and more serious buyers coming through homes, the market is still going strong.
“Pre-COVID, we were getting 60 to 80 groups coming through properties … [now] we’re averaging about 20 to 30 groups, but the number of registered bidders we’re getting at auction is still at 10,” he said.
Mr Dejanovic said demand was still outweighing the number of homes on the market but was starting to see some vendors ditch plans to delay their sale as lockdown dragged on.
While most interest was from locals, out of area buyers had still been travelling into the council area to inspect properties, he noted.
It was a similar story in the Parramatta region, where inspections numbers are down about 25 per cent on pre-lockdown levels,
“Inspection numbers are definitely down, but the market is even stronger,” said Ray Fayad, group principal of Laing + Simmons Parramatta, Granville and Oatlands.
Mr Fayad said the group was averaging nine one-on-one inspections per week for properties going to auction, with about 25 to 30 per cent of prospective buyers requesting virtual inspections. While buyer demand was strong, he noted that average inspections were also being driven by the lower number of homes for sale.
“Our weeks are chewed up with one-on-one inspections, but the appetite is still there … and we’re seeing more serious buyers come through.”
article by domain.com.au