How Covid-19 Transformed the Property Market

‘Life will never be the same again.’  Its been said non-stop since Coronavirus, but there is no doubt it has accelerated long overdue changes in the property market.

Across the board, property-related professions are adapting and thriving despite the virus.

Over the weekend, 73 per cent of Australia’s capital city auctions were successful, according to CoreLogic.

Of these, Melbourne achieved a 60 per cent clearance rate – despite the Covid-19 lockdown.  Given that auctions must now be held at an auctioneer’s home, rather than at agency offices this is an impressive performance.

Buyers are learning the art of bidding for a property online.

But online activities don’t just stop there.  Necessity is the mother of innovation and the banks have been forced to adapt; NAB recently announced cuts at 115 branches across regional Australia as it increasingly replaces face-to-face interactions with phone and online services.

Other banks too are adapting to online mortgages; where once borrowers and brokers were forced to have face-to-face meetings, banks are increasingly accepting brokers having identified borrowers via Zoom or Skype for example.

Covid-19 is having a huge impact on Australia’s geography with many professionals (and their bosses) realising that they don’t have to be in the CBD office every day; instead they can choose to live in lifestyle locations such as NSW’s Central Coast or the Sunshine Coast – locations that increasingly lack bank branches, making the role of the mortgage broker all-the-more important in a post Covid world.