"It seems that the warnings which have been widely publicised and coming from the Reserve Bank are at last being heeded and having an impact on our market. Sales information, discussion with real estate agents and auctioneers, and inquiry levels from investors into our office would indicate a slowing and more cautious market. The hoped-for soft landing looks set to eventuate. Statistical evidence is strengthening our reported view that the peak growth period in this housing cycle was in about June 2002.
An immediate reaction to the above might be one of disappointment and caution, if you were about to invest and, in fact, may lead to some removing themselves from the market. In our view, the soft landing is good news and it points to a better market for investors, in that investors will be more likely to be able to obtain more sensibly priced investments. We should all remember that house and land values, due to land shortages, are extremely unlikely to fall and there are probably only going to be increasing prices from here, albeit, at lower levels than we've seen in the recent past."
