Reply: 1
From: See Change
Hi anon
We put our house up for sale last weekend with open houses on sat and Wed.
When I rang agent on Wed to find out what happened I expected her to say , "well given the circumstances we had a quiet day today "
This didn't happen . Our open day on wed was busy and after intensive negotiations we agreed to a price on wed night. The buyer was highly motivated to exchange and that happened last night ( thursday ) without the buyer getting pest and building inspections. They were very keen to have every thing finished prior to the weekend so we didn't another open house this weekend. The price was at the top end of realistic expectations and is a price I would have expected from a " highly motivated heart buyer".
It was my aim to go through to Auction however I was apprehensive given the events in USA and it was a price we were very happy to get.
Thinking through likely reactions , my thoughts are that most people who are about to buy ( in particular owner occupiers ) have already made a decision to buy and will go through with their purchases. I think it is unlikely the market will fall though the floor straight away , the same way the share market does when it crashes.
However I believe that, in retrospect,this event will be the event that will be seen as the trigger for a change in market sentiment and subsequently market direction. From my understanding market direction usually changes when some unexpected trigger happens in a situation when there is already some uncertainty.
Throughout much of the western world the property market is booming ( or so I've heard ) and this is apparently not being associated by a significant increase in business investment. The thing that is driving the property boom is consumer sentiment. The events in the USA will strike right at this.
We have already seen an increasing number of major corporate collapses over the last months. People are only just starting to come to think about the economic ramifications of the WTC tragedy as so far every one is concentrating ( justifiably so ) on the Human consequences of the tragedy.
When the US sharemarkets open I will not be surprised to see little or no reaction as there will be intense political pressure in the US on the markets not to sell down and to hold there nerve. Having said that the share market may also fall through the floor.
In the medium term I believe that the property market will soften over the next months but whether that continues in a longer term will depend on how the world reacts to the terror.
One concern I had about the longer term for the property market in OZ was the thought of a Labour government getting in. Most commentators seem to think this is less likely now.
See change