- Number of Australians likely to sell their house to buy another one in the year has more than doubled compared with last year.
- More potential buyers are waiting for interest rate and price falls.
- Cost of living is main concern for two thirds of Australians as more than half think the country is in recession or faces one within 12 months.
Australians are almost twice as likely to sell their primary residence over the next 12 months to buy another one compared with last year, in a sign that property market activity is set to bounce back.
The *Dye & Durham Australian Pulse Report, a survey of 1604 Australians taken between September 5-9 by pollster Resolve Strategic, found 8 per cent of people were likely to sell their primary residence to buy another within the next 12 months.
This was more than double the 3 per cent who did so in the previous 12 months.
The survey was initiated by Dye & Durham, a leading global legal-technology company, that provides practice management software to legal professionals, including best-in-class property conveyancing workflows, as well as property search capabilities to help lawyers and their clients complete any transaction with certainty and reliability.
The survey suggests that the shortage of listings which prevailed over the past 12 months is likely to ease over the next year.
Dye and Durham Australia’s managing director, Dennis Barnhart said while there had been a slowdown in settlements, search volumes for activities such as land titles remained firm, he said.
“That is because many people are refinancing their existing mortgages, most likely prompted by the increase in interest rates, and this still requires land titles searches,’’ he said.
However, he said rising interest rates and living costs are on people’s minds, the desire for homeownership remains strong.
“We find many people, owners, mortgages, renters and sharers, are carefully timing their next moves in the property market,’’ Mr Barnhart said.
The Dye & Durham Australian Market Pulse found 16 per cent of respondents were likely to wait over the next year for a decrease in purchase prices before buying a property, while 23 per cent said they were likely to hold off until interest rates dropped before buying a property.
But 11 per cent of potential sellers said they were likely to wait for purchase prices to increase before selling.
**Core Logic data shows listings in the four weeks to September 3 were 11 per cent below the same time last year.
However, sales were down 17.1 per cent on the same time last year.
Core Logic data for September shows house prices rose 1 per cent in August, taking the increase over three-months to 2.5 per cent. This three-month rise was down slightly from the 2.9 per cent growth over the three months to July. However, home values remained 1.1 per cent down over 12 months.
The Dye & Durham Australian Pulse Report found only 34 per cent of respondents believed they would be able to afford to buy in the next decade, while only 13 per cent believed they were in a good position to be able to do so in the next couple of years.
Two-thirds of respondents believed they were somewhat unlikely to buy if current conditions continued, while 45 per cent believed buying a home was unlikely to happen at all.
The survey found 90 per cent of both homeowners and renters were experiencing an increase in their living expenses.
Fears of recession as cost-of-living hits Australians
The Dye & Durham Australian Pulse Report found 44 per cent of Australians believe the nation will be in recession within 12 months while 15 per cent believe it is already in recession.
Almost two-thirds of Australians believe their financial position will worsen over the next 12 months.
Cost of living remained the biggest concern for those surveyed with 66 per cent citing it as the most important issue, while 54 per cent cited housing and rental affordability.
Ninety-two per cent of those surveyed believed interest rates would either remain at the same level (46 per cent) of go up over the remainder of the year (46 per cent).
Sixty-four per cent of respondents believed their income – their capacity to buy and pay higher rates – would decrease over the coming year with 56 per cent expecting their income to remain static rather than keep pace with inflation.
Only 22 per cent of respondents believed their income would increase or keep pace with inflation while only six per cent believed their income would increase above inflation.
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