For the past three years the REIV has conducted a monthly survey of members – including residential, commercial and regional agents – to gauge sentiment in the property market.

The survey measures sentiment in a number of specific aspects of real estate practice: current number of enquiries, settlements, listings, transactions; and expectations for prices and turnover in the next three months. 

Agents are asked to indicate whether they feel these components have improved or worsened since last month, and their responses are aggregated to create an index.  A value greater than 100 indicates positive sentiment and one less than 100 demonstrates pessimism.

The index confirms that last year was a boom year, with the index remaining above 100 for the full 12 months: peaking in February at 154.4 and 144.1 in October.

In contrast the first few months of this year showed a shift as the median price dipped and interest rates increased.

In May this year – two months after the last rate rise – the market sentiment index hit 54.7: its lowest point in the three years we have conducted the survey.  This coincided with a drop in Melbourne’s house price − as shown in the REIV March quarter median prices.

Following the recent rate cut the mood has now picked up and the survey has measured a distinct improvement in terms of current prices and number of listings, and agents’ expectations for the next three months. 

By August the index had improved to 79.0, as five of the seven components of the index showed improvement.  The exception was the two components that measure the current number of listings and settlements, however, as we move into the peak spring selling season agents anticipate that these factors with also improve.

The overall upward movement in the REIV Property Market Sentiment Index is encouraging, and points to a typically buoyant spring selling season.

If interested in learning more about this update please contact me today!

As Domain Property Advocates continues to grow I will continue to provide superior service to those choosing to use property as their investment. It is an important choice of who to choose as the one responsible to look after your property. You can be sure that Domain Property Advocates will always strive to be the best.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 3:21 am and is filed under REIV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.