RAY White estate agent Jesse James says the Redlands housing market has fared well during the pandemic and expects house prices to rise despite Commonwealth Bank data painting a grim outlook for sellers.
Mr James said the coronavirus crisis had not scared off buyers, with interest in Redlands properties remaining at the same level as before the pandemic based on his recent sales history.
It comes as Commonwealth Bank modelling predicts prices could fall by up to 32 per cent over the next three years depending on employment growth during the virus-induced economic downturn.
Mr James said the housing market would not suffer like it did during the Global Financial Crisis, where house prices dropped by 4.6 per cent nationwide in the aftermath.
But Raine and Horne agent Jan Goetze said a price drop of up to 10 per cent was a possibility as buyers watch what the economy does over the next few months.
Mr James predicted a slight dip followed by a rise after the pandemic but said now was the time to buy.
"I don't think we are going to fall as far as some people say," he said.
"Because it was a disease-influenced market rather than a financial-influenced market, I think it is a massive difference.
"If people are comparing this to the GFC, I think they are way off in my opinion.
"I believe we will take a little bit of a dip just because of the uncertainty but it is not going to be anywhere near the GFC in this area based on the activity that we've got.
"I think we are going to coast along and after it (coronavirus) is all gone we will seen prices rise again in my opinion.
"If buyers are holding off, I think they are making a mistake."
Redland Bay couple Jordan and Brooke Walker's Stradbroke Street house was on the market for about four weeks before they accepted an offer.
Mr Walker said there was plenty of interest in the property and they had settled for only a little less than their original asking price.
"Considering the circumstances we were very happy with what we got," Mr Walker said.
"We were under the impression that we would have to settle for a lot less than what we wanted.
"The amount of interest we had was phenomenal. The Ray White team said that we had more interest than what a non coronavirus market would have had."
Ms Goetze said there had been more genuine buyers during the pandemic and fewer people testing the waters.
"Buyers are very cautious about what they pay," she said. "They are worried about what will happen with the economy in the near future."
Mr James said people had been flocking to open homes since restrictions on gatherings were lifted.
"Our first weekend I think we did seven or eight open homes with an average of three to four groups for each home," he said.
"You are looking at about an average of eight to 10 people waiting to get into a house but we are obviously restricted to six to start with so people had to stand on the footpath and wait.
"It was good. Buyers were still standing there waiting to get into a home."
Ms Goetze said she had also seen good numbers turn up at Raine and Horne's open homes on the weekend.
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