WEATHERING THE STORM
Covid-19 has brought the property market to a screaming halt, throwing the expectations of many into disarray. After all, this year was supposed to see a return to form for the market - and the first few months of 2020 were fulfilling that promise, with both sales and price growth strengthening.
The lockdown turned all that round. Sales activity froze and the rental market came to a standstill. This caused problems for some investors, particularly in terms of rent payments. But the move out of lockdown to alert level three has provided some hope of a return to more normal times.
CoreLogic senior property economist Kelvin Davidson says real estate activity will start to recover again as the country moves back down through the alert levels over the coming months. “But the recession and rising unemployment rate both point to a much more subdued property market than otherwise would have been the case.”
In the months prior to lockdown, their buyer classification data showed that property investors had been providing lots of the momentum for sales volumes, he says. “However, as unemployment rises, rental returns may come under some pressure and it’ll be interesting to see if investors’
