The Australian property market may currently be experiencing a downturn, but there are still positives to be found.

But that’s not what mainstream media wants us to think. And believe me, I get it – the articles online and the news headlines all point to a looming worst-case scenario, creating panic and negativity about the state of real estate in Australia.

If you follow the markets or are thinking about investing, it’s enough to make you feel down about the whole situation.

But I’m a glass-half-full kind of person, so I wanted to share my perspective on the positives that can be found in the Australian property market right now.

Every time you look to mainstream media, there are downbeat forecasts saying the property market is going to drop by 20% to 30%, with some even catastrophising in predicting prices will go down by up to 50% in the coming months.

And yes, it’s true that there is a downturn in the market currently, but realistically it’s more of a stabilisation as prices come back down from the all-time highs experienced during the last couple of years of the pandemic. In a large part, prices have been falling due to the rising costs of construction, however this is now stabilising as well.  

I certainly believe in the fundamentals of the Australian property market; we currently have an undersupply of properties, especially for rent, and that’s only forecast to get worse over the coming years.

There are simply not enough houses being built to meet the current demand.

The demand for rentals has skyrocketed, and I believe it will only increase in the next few years as Australia opens back up after the pandemic and skilled migrant and international student numbers rise.

The government recently announced that it would lift the skilled migrant cap from 160,000 to 195,000 in the 2022-2023 financial year to help meet skills shortages – which instantly means 20% more people coming into the country looking for short and long-term accommodation than in previous years.

Additionally, international students are expected to return to Australia in droves following border closures during the height of COVID-19. In the 2021-2022 program year, there were 365,004 student visa applications lodged – 246,651 of those applications were lodged between January and June 2022. And 50,656 of those student visa applications were lodged during the month of June alone, the highest in the program’s history (source: Student Visa and Temporary Graduate visa program report).

It’s clear that between skilled migrants and international students, significantly more people are entering the country than in recent years. These new arrivals will need a place to live, so demand for student, short-term and long-term accommodation is only going to go up.

We’ve already seen rental increases of around 10-20% in some locations over the last 12-24 months; imagine what will happen once all these skilled workers and students start flooding into the country, as they’ve already begun doing.

While it’s true that there are still market declines being seen in some locations around the country, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, there are also many areas where you can buy a fantastic investment property or house and land package for less than $600,00 – even less than $500,000 in some areas – with a current rental rate of 5.5% than will only get higher as the rental squeeze continues.

I always like to look on the positive side of things and think it’s important to have a counter perspective to what we see so often in the media. My perspective is not based on fear or worst-case scenarios, it’s based on years of experience investing in the property market.

As those who have invested over the years would know, now is the time to buy. I always advise buying during the downturn, in fact just when you think the news about the market couldn’t get any worse is when you should be buying.

Why? Because when the market is going up everyone wants to buy, and this means you’re more likely to be outbid, get less for your money, or have to settle for what the land developer has available. When the market is having a small downturn there are fewer people actively looking to buy, so you have less competition and more options to choose from.

These are the positives I focus on, and why I recommend you buy now if you’re looking to invest.

The market is stabilising, there are some fantastic opportunities for investors available right now at reasonable prices, and the demand for rentals is set to increase exponentially. If you can look past the doom and gloom of mainstream media reporting, I can help you take advantage of the current property market. Get in touch and let’s talk.