Sydney has been the market most visibly impacted by the Covid-19 period. The number of suburbs showing growth has dropped sharply and danger markets have doubled.We’re starting to see the emergence of a two-speed market, with suburbs near CBD centres that have a higher proportion of owner occupied properties showing resilience. Suburbs further from centres and more dominated by rental properties are coming under more pressure.
This coincides with a marked increase in vacancy rates in many parts of the Greater Sydney Area. Sydney overall has the highest vacancy rate among the capital cities and the inner-city postcodes have recorded a major blowout, caused primarily by investors who had previously used short-term letting methods like Airbnb and the government’s moritorium on evictions, which basically gives tenants the green light to dictate to their landlords what they want.
Lane Cove and surrounding suburbs have so far weathered the storm well due to a relatively low proportion of investment properties and also a low percentage of properties at risk of mortgage default, relative to other suburbs across Sydney. There are however an increased number of bargain hunters in the market, most of whom are finding disappointment as sales prices hold well.
Of course the market in its entirety may take a blow once government stimulus ends in September, I suspect new measures such as scrapping stamp duty may be introduced. No stamp duty may attract more people to turn over property leading to greater economic benefits.