Solid Market, Covid Clarity

Well, the rain has continued, and the soils of New England are well and truly saturated. Following on from a beautifully warm weekend, this week has seen what is hopefully the last of winter with single-digit maxima, more rain and even a flurry of snow in parts. Today (Thursday) the sky is blue, and the birds are chirping.  Spring will be here in days and pastures will be growing.

Spring is traditionally a great time to show properties in all their glory and this year will be no different. The Eastern States Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) pushed past 1,031¢ yesterday and restocker lamb indicator also breaking through 1000¢ last week, demonstrating the confidence in the commercial grazing industry

Meanwhile, lifestyle property continues to see solid demand and rises in values, partly due to city dwellers seeking value in investment and in part due to people seeking space.

So, to the elephant in the room.

The lockdown across New South Wales is something of a double-edged sword. Whilst it has brought out a newfound appreciation of the space and wonderful lifestyle we enjoy so much in regional areas, it presents real challenges with the logistics of marketing property, not the least of which is the border closure with Queensland. This especially affects commercial-sized rural property. Currently, it is extremely difficult (nigh on impossible) for Queenslanders to return home after visiting NSW. Even when border restrictions were less than what they are today, many I have spoken to simply haven’t had the confidence of not getting caught up in the rigmarole, so are choosing to stay put.

But, with all challenges comes opportunity. I believe there is enough demand from within New South Wales that the market will remain as strong as it has recently been.

Logistically, inspections can be organised using multiple vehicles while the sale process can be by private treaty or, if an auction is appropriate, the sale can be conducted on-line.

I survived an encounter with this elephant in 1992. We’ll survive the current “elephant in the room”, too.

For clarity, the “Public Health (COVID-19 Additional Restrictions for Delta Outbreak) Order (No 2) 2021 Dated 20 August 2021 (original order). As amended on 21 August 2021 and 25 August 2021 at 4.53pm”, states:

Schedule 2 Reasonable excuses
Note— This Schedule sets out reasonable excuses to be away from a person’s place of residence. It does not authorise the person to enter premises that the person would otherwise be prohibited to enter under this Order.

Part 1 Reasonable excuses for stay at home areas and areas of concern

2 Work
A person may leave the person’s place of residence for work if it is not reasonably practicable for the person to work at the place of residence.

14 Moving home or inspecting property
A person may leave the person’s place of residence to—

(a) move to a new place of residence, or
(b) inspect real property, or
(c) move between places of residence of the person.

Part 2 Directions applying to general area

3.20 Property inspections

(1) A person must not conduct an open inspection of premises in a stay at home area for the purposes of the sale or lease of the premises.

(2) This clause does not prevent a person carrying out an inspection of premises if—

(a) the person has made an appointment to carry out the inspection, and
(b) no more than 1 person inspects the premises at any 1 time.

In short, the business of marketing your existing property, or searching for your next property, can continue, albeit under restrictions.

Now is the time to prepare for a spring sale campaign or get ready for your search. To discuss how MacDougall Rural Property can help you buy or sell rural property in New England and beyond, please give me a call. It would be a privilege to give you a hand in achieving your goals.

Best regards,

Graham MacDougall