August 18 REA Insights Weekly Buyer Demand Report, 2021

Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan, Senior Economist

Senior Economist

rea insights

Demand to buy property remains resilient despite significant portions of the country now being in lockdown. Continued restriction of activity may see interest dwindle as available stock declines.

The REA Insights Buyer Demand Index, which measures high-intent buyer activity on realestate.com.au, increased 0.6% last week.

The level of aggregate buyer demand has remained stable for several months, at levels within 10% of the historic-peak recorded in mid-February this year.

Demand across the country continues to be affected by lockdown measures to contain COVID-19 outbreaks.

For instance, demand in the Australian Capital Territory fell by a significant 7.8% last week, as lockdowns were introduced.

There were smaller falls in Victoria and New South Wales.

Demand for units has increased the most over the past year, with demand for houses broadly flat. An influx of first-home buyers, as well and investors coming back into the market in 2021, has contributed to the increase in interest for units.

Demand is likely to fall over the coming weeks, with lockdown restrictions looking set to continue in New South Wales and Victoria.

As sellers delay bringing new properties to market until conditions normalise, our measurement of buyer demand will fall, as we saw during lockdowns in 2020.

But later in the year, should this wave of the pandemic be brought under control, we expect a rebound in market activity and buyer demand.