By
Australian brokers are expecting dwelling prices to improve substantially over the next year as the housing market is relieved of the pressure exerted by the COVID-19 outbreak, a survey from HashChing has revealed.
Despite the significant disruption the pandemic proved for both the housing market and the mortgage sector as a whole, brokers remain optimistic about the outlook for the coming year. In fact, the survey showed that around three in five brokers expect prices to "boom" in the next 12 months.
"A strong housing market is good news for brokers and will go a long way in helping to get a sense of stability and positivity back in the industry after what has been a turbulent 10 months," said Arun Maharaj, CEO of HashChing.
Additionally, around 75% of the brokers surveyed think the cash rate will continue to sit at its historic low of 0.1% for the next year, a belief which is helping buoy their outlook.
"If the collective wisdom of our brokers is right, we’re looking at the cheapest credit that will be available for quite some time," Maharaj said.
Brokers also largely expect that the shift of demand to regional centres which is currently being evidenced will hold into the next year as well.
The growing use of online tools and technologies across the industry will help brokers be able to easily work with clients, even in regional areas, as Maharaj sees it.
"The ability to transcend geographical borders will be a huge business advantage for brokers that have put in the effort to digitise their services this year, and will introduce unexpected competition for those who hope pre-pandemic business practices will return in 2021," he explained.
More than half of the surveyed brokers said they have already seen a noticeable impact on their business models amidst the pandemic.
"I’m thrilled to see many brokers have taken the necessary steps to get comfortable with these new ways of working," Maharaj said.
"At HashChing, we worked extremely hard this year to update our existing tools, as well as to introduce new ones, to help our brokers with transitioning their business for the new digital-first era."
