Effects of Covid Yet to be Felt on NSW Conveyancing

There is nothing better for conveyancing activity (property sales) than rising dwelling values. When home prices are going up, sales volumes usually go up as well. That is why, despite Covid 2020 and Covid 2021 in NSW, it still feels like boom conditions.

PEXA reported that settlement numbers were down 6.7% in August 2021 compared to July 2021. A lot of these August settlements were exchanged before the worst of the lockdown. September 2021 settlement numbers will be a better reflection of the disruptions that lockdowns have caused.

It might not be as bad as it could have been. In NSW, the government had looser rules around inspections. Auctions went online and clearance rates are much higher than during 2020. At the time of writing, lockdowns are planned to end in October 2021, giving a further boost of confidence to the market.

In NSW, settlement numbers were up around 35% in August 2021 compared to August 2020. August 2020 was only 2% down compared to August 2019.

Settlement numbers in NSW over the next two months are likely to dip below equivalent 2020 levels. This might simply be countered by pushing out the traditional spring peak selling season into summer, leading to an unusually busy December / January period.

By Peter Frankl

Also read: Anticlimactic first day on the ASX for PEXA and Property Investors Expect Prices to Keep Rising.