Property in a post-COVID world It’s been a challenging 22 months since Australia’s first confirmed case of coronavirus back in January 2020 – but there is light at the end of the tunnel. As more countries continue to embrace “COVID-normal”, increased vaccination rates are now enabling our states and territories to follow suit, in line with the plan developed by the National Cabinet earlier this year. This roadmap is underpinned by a commitment to transition away from “pre-vaccination” settings, which focused on suppression of community transmission, and toward “postvaccination” settings, with significantly eased restrictions. Locally, New South Wales and Victoria have been the hardest hit jurisdictions over the past two years. And all eyes will be on the pair as they complete wholesale re-openings in the coming weeks. But what can we expect within these traditional powerhouse property
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markets in the months ahead, as we seek to recover from the pandemic? There are noteworthy observations to be made from our international colleagues. Post lockdown spike in the United Kingdom Much was made of the UK’s ‘Freedom Day’ back in July 2021 – but indisputably, one of the key trends in recent months has been a remarkable real estate boom. Dubbed the ‘race for space’, house prices in the UK experienced the strongest month-on-month rise for 14 years in September 2021, according to major lender Halifax. The latest monthly data represented an all-time record for dwelling values and saw a 7.4% spike year-on-year – demonstrating a clear post-COVID boom.
