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Andrew Bell’s Market Wrap: A Message To Our Clients

By Andrew Bell

Issue 7 | March 26th | A Message To Our Clients

Hi, Andrew Bell here with you. Needless to say, we are in extraordinary times that none of us have ever experienced before. Whilst it is my responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of all the 200+ staff who work within the Ray White Surfers Paradise Group, I also know that this is a critical time for many of our clients and I assure you that we are here to support you through whatever circumstances may change in your world and where we can assist you in the world of real estate.

We know that we work in an essential services industry. Everyone needs a roof over their head for themselves and their families, and as such we are not an industry that can cease to continue to provide that service to our clients. For businesses, likewise, there will be extraordinary circumstances as a result of the significant financial impact that the Coronavirus has created to our economy.

What is essential now are cool heads and a clear understanding of what is happening. In my 40+ years in the real estate industry, I have been through four recessions, a 9-month national pilot strike where no commercial flights occurred anywhere in the country, the recession we had to have with 18 percent interest rates, the Asian Tech Crisis, the Y2K phenomenon, the Global Financial Crisis, and three stock market crashes. What I learnt throughout all these events was that whilst the cause was different on every occasion, the consequences were always the same. We have weathered every single one of those events and we have learnt and gained experience on how to best look after our clients through these periods of time.

The reality is that even through any deeper shutdown that may occur, and in any circumstances that may arise, there will be sales and leasing done on a daily basis. Life will go on within the real estate industry because it is in fact an essential service.

It is no surprise that we have been fielding a huge volume of calls with people seeking advice. Every individual’s circumstances are different and so all advice that we provide will be tailored to that individual’s situation. I want to extend to you the invitation to reach out to me if you are looking for any advice moving forward. There is no one more experienced in our industry here on the Gold Coast than my brother Greg and I in how to deal with any of the consequences of the current circumstances we are going through. With a level head and sensible strategies, we will navigate through this. Just as has happened through the Great Depression, the World Wars, recessions and all forms of economic downturns, it is a period of time. We pass through that period of time and we move forward.

People have asked me what the impact at present has been. Here is the latest. CoreLogic posted that the weekend before last there were 2,220 auctions and 70.6 percent of those sold under the hammer on auction day. More of course have sold since. Within the Ray White Group, 73 percent of all the auctions throughout the country sold and there was an average attendance of 40 at each of those auctions.

Here in Queensland, one of the larger independent auction groups also reported a 72.7 percent success rate at auction with their being an average of 3.4 bidders registered at each auction, on average 25.9 people in attendance, and with 58 percent of all the registered bidders actually bidding.

One of our offices in Brisbane sold $30 million worth of real estate over the weekend and recorded inspection numbers ranging on average between 20 – 30, with one property recording 47 inspections. For our own office, our last in-room auction on the 12th of March saw twenty properties submitted, 12 out of the twenty sold on the day and a further 5 have sold since, which means 17 of the 20 properties have now sold. Over the past week, we have also recorded 39 sales. This supports what I have mentioned above, and that is that we are an essential service and that business does continue on a daily basis.

We also must remember the economic foundations that drive real estate. We currently have historic low interest rates, low unemployment (although likely to rise), annual population growth of over 400,000, 19 year low construction levels creating a shortage of property for sale, first home-buyer incentive programs, a strong flow of finance available for purchasers, and record low vacancy levels. These are all very positive for the real estate market.

We are likely to suffer disruption for a period of time to our normal daily lives, but we already see that a Queensland University has announced that they have a cure for those who have the virus but that still has to be developed for practical use. The Americans have also announced that they are in clinical trials for a vaccine. The reality is that this is probably the first real experience of what we may well be facing on a more regular basis going forward. Perhaps some describe it as a dress rehearsal, but life will go on.

I want you to be assured that we are open for business within the guidelines set by the Government. We are here to help you with all your real estate needs. There is no one more experienced and knowledgeable, and might I say more skilful, in managing through the current situation than the team at Ray White Surfers Paradise.

Please feel free to reach out via email to info@rwsp.net and we will do all we can to respond to you as quickly as possible, of course allowing for whatever the volume of queries that come through.

Stay safe. Let’s unite as a country and deal with this matter calmly and in a way that we can be proud of how Australia once again rose to a challenge just as we did with the droughts, fires and floods of more recent times.

Kind regards,

Andrew Bell, OAM
Chief Executive Officer
The Ray White Surfers Paradise Group

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