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How has Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown affected the property market? Insights from Page 4. WHAT’S INSIDE 2-3 Analysis: The impact of Victoria’s Stage 4 on property 4-6 Industry: A shift to technology for legal practices 7-9 CX: Why you need to prioritise client experience 10-11 Security: $21bn in property settled with secure app 12-13 Community: Helping local businesses rebuild 14-15 Around the grounds: PEXA and industry updates 1
Victoria’s Stage 4 lockdown:
what does it mean for the property market and the Spring season? Stage 4 restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne, in addition to further measures in regional areas, remain in place as Victoria continues to fight its second wave of coronavirus.
alike – the property industry is no exception. According to CoreLogic’s September 2020 report, Melbourne’s dwelling values fell by 1.2% in August1 – though volumes were already low, in light of the current circumstances.
While a roadmap to “COVID normal” has Despite this, values are up 5.9% annually1 – with the market’s monthly decline offset been outlined by the state government, there are still significant steps to be taken. by its existing strong baseline, on the back of soaring to a record high in March 2020. Though private inspections by appointment have now been reintroduced National numbers indicate similar resilience – with overall values dipping in Melbourne, they are limited to one client (dependants and a partner may also by only 2% since the beginning of the pandemic2. attend) only, while outdoor auctions remain off. Further easing is dependent on the statewide daily average and total number of cases with an unknown source in the previous 14 days both dropping to less than five.
The market impacts The Victorian lockdown has been difficult for citizens, businesses and industries 2
Annual dwelling value changes (August 2020)1 • • • • •
Melbourne: +5.9% Sydney: +9.8% Brisbane: +3.5% Perth: -2.0% Adelaide: +2.7%
A different Spring season Spring has sprung, but for the property market, the traditional buying frenzy may arrive under a different guise and unusually late in the year, potentially pushing into early 2021. Current circumstances have driven new listings down 76% in Melbourne year-onyear1 – indicating that the coming weeks probably won’t deliver a seasonal market rush. However, this may be the calm before the proverbial storm in Victoria. Market rebounds have been observed globally – the United Kingdom reported record house prices in August4. Elsewhere, Canada’s new listings rose by more than 10% in August, alongside a record high for sales5. In both countries, a release of ‘pent-up demand’ for consumers has been widely attributed to these gains.
A similar story in Victoria? Having spent more time in their homes than ever before, many Victorians are reevaluating their lifestyles – assessing their property needs and wants. It’s reasonable to expect market movement when restrictions ease in Victoria. Those in advantageous positions seeking to buy, financially impacted households looking to reduce their debt obligations, families adjusting to shifts in priorities and working arrangements, relocations and more are all active factors in generating activity.
Additionally, the usual candidates – empty nesters, those upgrading or downgrading, as well as first homebuyers leveraging the grants made available by the government will all be eager to buy and sell. On our shores, June 2020 was the biggest month of sales in Perth since 2015 – a local example of how the transition out of COVID-19 restrictions can be a trigger point for transactions. The usual spring rush may not eventuate – instead, there’s every chance we’ll see a late spring or early summer boom in Victoria’s property market.
COVID-normal The million-dollar question remains – what will a post COVID-19 market look like? The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) maintenance of a record low 0.25% cash rate, which appears set to remain in place for the long-term future, provides a source of confidence for prospective homeowners. While there’s still much to play out, there remains an inherent resilience in the Australian property market and in line with patterns observed in other states and countries, a recovery may be on the cards in the short term for Victoria. 1 CoreLogic: CoreLogic Monthly Chart Pack (September 2020) 2 CoreLogic: Cash rate remains at record low of 0.25% 3 Australian Banking Association – Banking Activity Update, 19 June 2020 4 The Guardian: UK house prices hit record high after easing of Covid lockdown 5 Royal Bank of Canada: Canada’s Housing Market Reached New Heights in August
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Your legal practice and COVID-19 How PEXA is helping legal firms drive efficiency and productivity online By Macquarie Bank
Key takeaways • COVID-19 has created a burning platform for technology adoption in the legal sector, accelerating the trend towards simplifying and automating processes in the cloud. • One example of technology-enabled simplification is Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), Australia’s national e-conveyancing platform, which has seen a four-fold increase in usage in some states. • According to PEXA Chief Customer Officer Lisa Dowie, e-conveyancing not only increases productivity and avoids delays, it can also help firms attract and retain skilled staff. 4
The last few years have seen Australian legal practices increasingly harnessing technology to drive efficiency and productivity. Now COVID-19 has accelerated that process, with firms adopting cloud-based systems to simplify collaboration across a range of practice areas – especially conveyancing.
restrictions]. In the last two months, our customer base there has grown by 17%.”
Flexible, productive and integrative Like other online platforms, PEXA’s can help firms improve efficiency and productivity by streamlining and automating paper-based processes. Because there’s no need to attend settlement, rely on physical documents or organise bank cheques, firms save significant amounts of time with every transaction. And online processing helps ensure settlements are completed on time and with fewer errors.
“I think COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of paper-based processes,” says Lisa Dowie, Chief Customer Officer for e-conveyancing platform Property Exchange Australia (PEXA). “It’s really highlighted the agility and flexibility “A PwC report from 2015 showed that digital solutions enable.” that 25% of paper-based property “Members have reached out to me saying how thankful they are that their businesses can be fully digital and online, and they don’t have to worry about not meeting their customers’ expectations.” In the last six months, PEXA has seen usage increase four-fold in some states, with 75% of transactions nationally now taking place through the platform. This number is set to rise too – with the South Australian government recently transitioning all its property transactions online, and Queensland and the ACT increasing their adoption of digital conveyancing. “In South Australia, a large proportion of settlements were all held in the one settlement room in Adelaide, at a particular time,” said Chief Customer Officer for PEXA Lisa Dowie. “Then that settlement room was closed suddenly one Friday morning [by COVID-19
transactions were delayed,” says Dowie. “PEXA provides much more certainty of successful and on-time settlement.” Using PEXA means firms and clients can access payments sooner with electronic funds transfer. And working digitally means practitioners can not only work remotely – they can complete transactions from anywhere in the world. “We had someone at base camp on Mount Everest, logging on to complete a property settlement,” says Dowie. Macquarie Bank research shows that integrating diverse technologies is a key focus for two in three legal firms1, and Dowie says PEXA is working with practices across Australia to help integrate their practice management and core business systems with the platform. So far, 26 organisations, including the RBA, are on board – and the benefits can be significant. 1 Macquarie 2020 Legal Services Industry Pulse Check.
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“Integration definitely improves the overall Collaborating online with clients can help user experience,” Dowie says. “Already, it’s improve the client’s experience, and deliver saved these organisations collectively up to a higher quality service at a lower cost. 13 million clicks monthly.” With so many apparent benefits for Creating business resilience law firms, why has it taken a crisis like COVID-19 to accelerate technology Adopting appropriate technologies not adoption? Dowie says the biggest barrier is only helps legal practices become more most often behavioural, not technological. efficient, it can also improve resilience in an evolving market. Dowie says using “Unproductive practices like technology to simplify and automate manual processes can help firms attract paper-based processes are long and retain skilled staff by supporting ingrained in the legal sector,” she remote working and flexibility, while says. “The real challenge is creating freeing staff to focus on more satisfying behavioural change.” work, rather than administration.
Lisa Dowie’s 5 tips for successful technology adoption 1. Start small, rather than trying to transform your whole business 2. Make technology part of your business plan and strategy 3. Empower your people at the grassroots to drive change – since they’re the ones driving the new processes from day to day 4. Expect teething issues and allocate enough time to follow a learning curve 5. Embrace any offers of technology support. “We deploy PEXA specialists across the country, who coach firms on how to navigate change successfully,” says Dowie.
How Macquarie can help The Macquarie legal industry banking team is here to help you with personalised support, delivered by specialists in your industry. To find out more, contact your Macquarie Relationship Manager, call 1800 442 370, or visit www.macquarie.com/legal This information is issued by Macquarie Business Banking, a division of Macquarie Bank ABN 46 008 583 542 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 237502. It doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, nor is it intended as a substitute for any accounting, tax or other professional advice, consultation or service – please consider whether it’s right for you.
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Client experience and why it matters By Carl White, Director and Chief Experience Officer, CXINLAW
Client experience is any moment where an impression of the firm and its service is perceived by clients. In a consumer-focused market, Client experience (CX) now separates the best providers from the rest and is arguably the only differentiator that law firms can leverage.
No client is saying “there are not enough lawyers to choose from” and most would tell you that excellent legal advice is expected. What matters today is making the goal of turning clients into promoters of your firm something that every member of your organisation understands, enthuses about and is empowered to deliver.
The CX business case and results Quite simply, firms that invest in uplifting the clients’ experience separate themselves from the rest in a crowded marketplace. Here are some of the results tracked by firms with whom we work:
20%
35%
50%
57%
25%
56%
57%
33%
client instructions
fees billed
retained clients
Net Promoter Score
referral rates
growth in lawyer no’s
client growth
increase in profits
Focusing on the clients’ experience is one of the most overlooked yet costeffective and high-impact ways to grow your firm, embed a service culture and outperform in the marketplace.
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The challenge for most law firms Most law firms recognise the importance of being client-focused in today’s servicedriven legal environment, and they certainly do not set out to make their own clients go “ouch!” However, creating an enviable reputation for “Client Experience Excellence” takes more than good intentions. The issue is that many law firms lack the required insight and knowhow to meet the new levels of service that clients now demand.
Realising a client experience advantage Realising an advantage for your firm in its market with a focus on CX means: Activating CX Developing a CX program with the firm’s leaders, engaging your teams and creating a CX action plan that all staff feel invested in and excited about delivering.
Designing CX Using service design techniques to enable your teams to improve workflow and delight clients at every touchpoint in the relationship.
Embedding CX Formulating new service KPIs and establishing a scorecard that can be coached and monitored in order to embed CX as a powerful differentiator for the firm.
CX Insight Adopt the right perspective with client feedback and staff insights that help the firm to continually improve, impress clients and create promoters. Becoming digitally ready as a law firm must be seen from the perspective of the broader CX goals and requirements of your firm. The word ‘service’ needs to be reinforced and championed at every level, with everyone passionate about delivery. It can never just be a marketing or digital strategy. Apple calls this an ‘all around mandate’.
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What client experience success looks like
skills of its people and design the clients’ experience as a team.
Imagine a firm that understands its clients are looking for more than the expected standards of legal advice – every good firm can deliver upon that goal, but it’s not what sets them apart. This firm knows that clients make decisions to instruct, pay bills and wholeheartedly refer services based on their positive legal experience.
The team has created a Service Promise that everybody can enthusiastically stand behind and bring to life consistently with internal and external clients. Every role and function has taken ownership of uplifting the clients’ journey to improve operator efficiencies and delight the firm’s service users.
Service is led and role-modelled by its leaders and championed at every level, from the Directors of First Impressions at reception to outstanding legal assistants and lawyers. Team members appreciate their role in delivering care beyond the legal advice. The firm has created opportunities to develop the service
Staff are motivated, capable and happy - and that’s something clients notice and reward. This firm has earned an enviable reputation as a provider of choice for clients and as a great place to work for employees. Imagine a firm that invests in client and employee experience with such profitable results.
CXINLAW helped this firm build a picture of what success looks like for them and guided their team through the CX transformation, from concept to implementation and ongoing “Client Experience Success”. 9
21 billion reasons to avoid email Australia’s $7 trillion1 residential market, the nation’s most valuable asset class, is currently battling a rise in the country’s number one cyber threat to property settlements – email phishing. In FY20, business email compromise (BEC), a form of email phishing, increased by a concerning 127 per cent2 – a spike notably coinciding with the onset of COVID-19. The average house price in Australia
ranges from as high as $1.1 million in Sydney to $500k in Darwin. Understandably, the property industry is a lucrative target for scammers, and unsuspecting buyers and sellers are at risk of losing their life savings because of the dangers posed by a simple email. This global issue is exactly why PEXA, in collaboration with industry, worked to develop a tailored solution to protect Australia’s homebuyers and sellers. Launched 12 months ago, the PEXA Key app is designed as a secure method for practitioners and homebuyers or sellers to share financial account details, mitigating the risks associated with email.
Jamie-Lee Carragher, Director of EzyStep Conveyancing, has been using PEXA Key since it was launched and said: “Our clients put their faith in us, that we are going to protect them and do what’s in their best interests as conveyancing professionals. We’ve seen the impact of BEC; of funds being misdirected into a hackers account. Nobody wants this to happen to their clients. That’s why we use PEXA Key. It gives us, and our clients, the reassurance that their settlement, their life savings, are protected. Email is not enough anymore. We have to think outside of the box and provide our clients with the service they expect and deserve”.
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Unlike email, PEXA Key uses encryption to safeguard the communication of account details. This ensures that confidential information, like bank and trust account details, cannot be intercepted by cyber criminals, keeping transactions safe from this type of fraud.
buyers and sellers by their practitioners. Thanks to these security conscious, customer-first professionals, the app has been used to protect the integrity of, and to track, settlements valued at a total of more than $21 billion since its launch.
With cyber-crime costing Australian In addition, the app allows homebuyers and businesses on average $29 billion each sellers to track their settlement, plan their year and one in four Australian firms move with easy-to-use checklists and read reported having come under a cyberup on what to expect - helping smoothen attack in 2018 and 2019, more firms and bring joy to the overall experience. nationwide are utilising PEXA Key to help safeguard Australian families and Since September 2019, more than 60,000 their properties. PEXA Key invitations have been sent to
“Many of our clients are first time homebuyers. That brings with it a level of nervousness as well as excitement”, said Michelle House, Licenced Conveyancer, Conveyancing Wodonga. “We believe communication is the key to ensuring a smooth and enjoyable conveyancing transaction and PEXA Key has certainly added another dimension to our offering to clients. Our clients who have used the app really enjoy watching their settlement progress. The added benefit of sharing account details securely has proven to be another great initiative”.
GUARANTEED Using PEXA Key is the only guaranteed way to communicate account details for settlement securely. In the unlikely event that the communication of bank account details between the buyer/seller and their practitioner’s PEXA Workspace is intercepted or corrupted due to fraud, the PEXA Key Secure Communication Guarantee provides protection to buyers and sellers when they use the app. This means that PEXA covers any losses up to $2 million. PEXA continues to innovate with industry to provide the best and safest property settlement experience. To learn more about PEXA Key, visit pexa.com.au/key.
1 CoreLogic: CoreLogic Monthly Chart Pack (September 2020) 2 ABC: Hackers foiled in attempt to steal $90,000 from church abuse survivor in email compromise scam
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Small Business Australia Rebuilding the Australian economy with local businesses By Lisa Dowie, Chief Customer Officer, PEXA
We continue to find ourselves battling unprecedented challenges in 2020. PEXA recognises the impact this difficult year continues to have on our members and all Australians. As a proud Australian company, PEXA and our people are committed to supporting the community and have partnered with Small Business Australia, joining the Buy Local movement. The Buy Local initiative was established to assist small businesses nationwide. It aims to support small business owners, their employees and all customers – 12
encouraging them to keep well and to move forward, doing what they need to adapt to our changing environment. Additionally, this has been developed to help the community endure the economic impacts of COVID-19 and encourage consumers, whether online, over the phone or face-to-face, to buy and support local. Last year, Australia had more than 2.2 million small businesses providing work for five million Australians. Bill Lang, Executive Director of Small Business Australia, describes the Buy Local initiative as “more than a campaign�.
One of the key purposes of the Buy Local initiative is to provide small business owners with access to resources, tools, advice and expense savings to sustain their businesses in line with the new demands of a COVID-19 economy. This portfolio includes more than 50 learning resources and materials on building business knowledge, coaching, access to tools and templates, confidential advice, a skills centre and much more.
Passionate about supporting small, local businesses thrive during the current COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, Bill said:
“Campaigns come and go. This is a movement that will build, grow and take action for many years ahead. We need citizens, businesses and governments at all three levels to Buy Local. We need them, whenever they buy goods or services, to buy directly from local community businesses, from businesses employing Australians, from businesses paying taxes in Australia.”
“The movement’s founding partners comprise seven of Australia’s largest service providers to the small businesses of Australia – including NAB, Australia Post and PEXA. Availing of the range of discounts and offers available, members are making impactful savings for their businesses of up to $5,200 on things like electricity, internet, digital marketing etc.”, noted Bill. It’s free to set up an account on the Small Business Australia website to have instant access to all of these benefits. Visit smallbusinessaustralia.org today to get started.
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Around the grounds Western Australia In its latest Settlement Industry Bulletin, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety issued a timely reminder to remain vigilant of cyber-crime, with particular reference to email interception targeting property transactions. PEXA is committed to supporting you and safeguarding your settlements – at this time, we encourage you to stay alert and reach out to us if you require assistance.
South Australia In response to member feedback, over the past 12 months, we have developed an Enhanced Settlement Summary (ESS) to improve your user experience. To ensure a smooth transition, this will be rolled out in nationally across three phases, with the first of these set for a business go-live of Monday 12 October 2020 in South Australia.
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Queensland August was another record month for digital settlements in Queensland – and it’s fantastic to see firms continue to build this momentum. Collaboration is key to ensuring settlement day proceeds smoothly for all parties and clients. Jacob Corbett from Bradley & Bray Solicitors, will be joined by David Morrissey, Commonwealth Bank on Tuesday 29 September at 1.00pm to discuss operational rhythms from a banking perspective.
New South Wales and ACT We’re excited to share that LawAdvisor’s digital contracts solution, RapidContracts, is now available via Marketplace on PEXA Plus for NSW matters. As an introductory offer, RapidContracts is accessible at no cost for the remainder of September. Check out all the details here.
Victoria The Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner “has determined that non-legal employees of law practices in Victoria will be permitted to sign registry instruments, provided they are appropriately supervised by the responsible principal.” This change enables lawyers to delegate the signing of Registry Instruments to staff provided they adhere to prescribed guidelines – access the full overview here.
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Do you have feedback, a question or a story pitch? Get in touch with us at industry@pexa.com.au
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