Well its certainly been an interesting 2020. With differing restrictions being placed on Metro Melbourne (including Healesville for some reason) since March.
Before restrictions were first in place in March, the Healesville Real Estate market was very buoyant with limited properties compared with buyers searching for a home.
The homes we did have open for inspection, were extremely well attended with multiple offers being presented on most of the homes sold and many disappointed buyers either missing out or not finding a suitable home to purchase.
Since March the changing rules with restrictions and what was allowed, greatly inhibited inspections in that a maximum of 20 per open home were allowed at one point to one on one inspections and then no inspections allowed from the 4th August. This effectively put the real estate listing and selling market into lockdown. The only way a buyer could buy a property was to be guided by videos, virtual inspections or photos on the internet. Despite the unlikelihood of purchasers buying in this manner, we did sell a few homes during this period and other sales also took place albeit in low numbers.
So what this has done is create a large backlog of buyers who have been unable to view homes. To compound this situation there has only been a handful of listings placed on the market as potential sellers are also concerned at putting their home on the market and not being able to have their agent conduct inspections.
There is a strong likelihood that restrictions may be relaxed prior to the 26th October, allowing Real Estate agents to conduct one on one inspections and indeed a lot sooner should Covid cases continue to fall.
So long story short. If you’re thinking of selling, be ready to list your home as soon as restrictions allow. There will be a lot of buyer activity and this should ensure great prices are achieved. As has already happened previously this year, there is no guarantee restrictions will always ease or that the market will remain buoyant long term.