I've been a real estate agent in Brisbane since the 90s and in that time I've learnt that the market gets as distracted 'as a schoolboy in math class' every time there's an election. If there's a big world wide news event the number of enquiries drop. If the weather is bad the inspections drop. And if there's an election, the market can't focus on anything other than hypothesising what may happen afterwards! And with three levels of government that means that every other year there is a period of time that a slight stall hits the market as buyers say "let's just wait and see what happens at this election".
But not so much this time! Campbell Newman calling the election in January has in fact given real estate and similar industries a distraction when their market was already distracted. Sure, buyers will still be saying "I'm going to wait until after the election", but the number of buyers, sellers and agents that are active in the January market is far less than at any other time of the year. To give you an example I call roughly 45 auctions per month, yet I called none - that’s right ZERO, in Brisbane in January. So where do these buyers go in January? Mainly to the coasts. And on the coast, seasonally, holiday time is when these markets peak. So the obvious question to ask is: have these coastal regions stalled? To answer this I called Andrew Bell, the CEO of Ray White Surfers Paradise, who has just conducted 125 auctions over the Australia Day long weekend. He said mid-year elections definitely upset the day-to-day operations. However, he went on to say that in January their buyers were less engaged with those style of matters. Their window to purchase whilst on holiday was short and this year was one of the Gold Coast’s most successful auction events, with 120 property auctions and over $20 million worth of real estate sold on the day! Maybe elections aren't as influential in all regions and in all seasons as Brissy?
From where I stand (usually behind the podium) elections and new governments have played strong roles in stimulating and extinguishing markets over last ten years. It can make people raise their hands and bid or hang onto the insides of their pockets! It's notable that this government has made radical changes inside the real estate industry cutting costs to owners and removing unnecessary forms. There could be more to come with the REIQ issuing a wishlist to lobby for lower stamp duty and a reintroduction of first home owners grants for existing homes, amongst other things.
Whichever way you vote, the sun will still rise the next day and life will move on. However, your asset value could continue to rise or start to diminish. Either way like many other small business owners across our state, I was thrilled when a quick election was called during a traditional 'holiday period'.
