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Matthew Sullivan
An overwhelming majority of real estate professionals has questioned the federal government’s handling of the Australian economy, with economic conditions deteriorating in recent months, new research has found.
According to Real Estate Business’ inaugural Quarterly Sentiment Survey, 85.5 per cent of the 358 respondents said they weren't impressed by the federal government’s management of the Australian economy.
Moreover, 52 per cent of respondents feel economic conditions have deteriorated when compared to the previous (third) quarter.
Century 21 regional owner Charles Tarbey said he was not surprised by the lack of support for the federal government
“From a commercial perspective it is clear why there is so much disappointment,” Mr Tarbey told Real Estate Business.
“Every decision I make in my company will affect me personally in some way or another. If I make a poor decision I will personally pay for it. But I just think there is a total lack of commercial experience in the current government, and they have little idea on how to effectively manage a business on the scale of the Australian economy."
However, Mr Tarbey questions whether current economic conditions are worse now than the previous quarter.
“You don’t have to look too far to find this is not the case,” Mr Tarbey said.
“People are driving down their mortgages at a faster rate than we have seen in years, with an increasing number saving larger portions of their income each month.”
Just over half of the respondents (51.1 per cent) feel the RBA is doing a good job controlling inflation through its management of monetary policy, although just under one in three respondents (31.6 per cent)believe current interest rates are having a negative impact on the demand for residential property.
Around 44 per cent claim that current interest rates have little to no impact on buyer demand.
Speaking to Real Estate Business, Raine & Horne chief executive Angus Raine said any drop in interest rates will provide a significant boost to consumer confidence.
“Everyone is waiting for the Melbourne Cup [the next rate decision] to see what the RBA has in store. Over the last five years the RBA has either raised or lowered rates on this day,” he said.
“What’s different about this year though is that most industry pundits and economists are all tipping a rate cut, the only question is by how much.”
“Any fall in interest rate will be a real shot in the arm for Australian buyers and really boost consumer confidence across the board.”
The Real Estate Business sentiment poll is an online-based survey. The results to the latest survey were based on 358 replies, with the majority of respondents coming from the residential sales and property management sectors (86.6 per cent). More than half were principals (54.8 per cent) and licensees (11.8 per cent), and another 22.8 per cent were sales representatives.
Responses were received in the first half of October.
