Returning investors set eye on off-the-plan apartments
- Posted By Prince Lakshman
New data show an increased interest in off-the-plan apartments as investors return to the property market despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.
The basis for such data was the new home loan numbers acquired by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in December. It shows how loan commitments from investors increased by 10 per cent compared to the same time in 2020. This only tells about how returning investors are eager to snap up new apartments, especially off-the-plan ones.
It is a surprising matter given how January is rather a slow month for the property market. In January this year, however, there was a record level of interest for new apartments on the property listing website realestate.com.au.
The effects of the coronavirus pandemic especially the lockdowns and border closures had led to the massive decline of the rental market. This made investors hesitant to return to Australia’s property market over the past year and enquiry figures for off-the-plan apartments have plummeted as an outcome. For apartment developers, investors are specifically valuable because most units they develop are bought by investors.
Despite the pandemic last year, the Federal Government came up with the HomeBuilder scheme to stimulate house and land development. It was only available for owner occupiers; hence, the Federal Government didn’t have something to entice the investors to put their money on the property market.
Nevertheless, a combination of a recovering property market, relaxing lending criteria and record low interest rates has steered the investors back to the game. Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory are among the markets with the best upswing both in pricing and enquiry levels for new apartments in January 2021.