Looming election could see property sellers sit tight
Uncertainty surrounding the federal election is likely to see high-end property sellers sitting tight.
Uncertainty surrounding the federal election is likely to see high-end property sellers sitting tight.Vendors in premium markets in Sydney and Melbourne are delaying bringing their properties to market until after the July 2 federal election, the Australian Financial Review has claimed. According to the AFR, premium markets in the city are seeing a traditionally slow winter market further exacerbated by wariness surrounding the election outcome.
"Now [the election] is a reality, people are deferring major decisions until they see the outcome," Greg Hocking Real Estate director Greg Hocking told the AFR. "People will think, 'Is my business going to be directly affected?' With Joe Average, it's as much of an issue, but the top end of town tends to take a bit of a breather."
With listings already down on last year’s numbers, the AFR said stock was unlikely to recover with uncertainty surrounding mooted changes to superannuation. One real estate sales director told the AFR vendors may test their luck off-market before committing.
"I think there will be less public campaigns in the next seven weeks. But I sense now there will be more planning for public campaigns in the third quarter. I had two meetings this morning. I booked one auction for August 13 and one for August 20,” Abercromby’s sales director Rob Vickers-Willis told the AFR.
But Marshall White director Marcus Chiminello said it was market sentiment rather than the election that would most directly impact vendors’ decisions.
“[An election] rarely impacts people going to market. More vendors will be guided more by market sentiment that the impact of an election,” he told the paper.
