COVID-19 impact on owner occupied property

Ok, sorry if this has been asked already...

I'm a 1st home buyer, literally attending open houses over the past few weeks.

Is there a popular/ general thought on house prices due to the coronavirus?
Should I wait to buy?
Were there any precedents set when previous pandemics appeared?

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

 

The question is, if prices fall, would you buy or wait for more falls?

 

People were waiting before the last elections and then many are still waiting to buy as the market moved very quickly.

It's unfortunate, but good to buy when everyone is staying put, as you won't have as much competition.

 

Thing is people are waiting for when the air clears and the worst has passed. By then they've lost about 20-30% of gains. It's perplexing to watch when people pile into property when its uber expensive (2017) and shares (2019) yet opt to stay out of the market when its Armageddon on the streets.

There may yet be a protracted downturn but again as Warren says, "be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful". For the record, I reckon stocks will bounce back quicker than it did after 2008.

 

The world was already heading into a recession. Corona virus just got us there quicker / more severe.

Australia will do well in these circumstances... I wouldn’t be buying property here and I’m relieved I sold my last remaining negative geared property last week.

 

Is it a good time then to put money into indexes?

 

gfc spiralled down over a 16 month period.. this recession hasn’t even started yet.. I’m no oracle, but I think there is a lot more pain to come..

 

Hope so bc I'll hopefully have substantially more funds in 3 to 4 months. I know I'll incur losses on the slide down. I accept that fact.

 

Yes definitely.
I'd be a bit cautious of the ASX. Would rather put money on American and some large euro indices with minor to moderate positions on Hong Kong and Indian indices.

 

Agreed on all fronts here, it's going to get worse before it gets better, but the downturn could be shorter than the GFC if. after 12 months there is a significant drop in new cases (as much of society has already been infected and it's no longer transmitting at the same rates), or a cure / treatment / vaccine is discovered.

But who knows right - this is something more akin to a world war really, something that is outside of the control of an individual nation, and certain events could elongate or shorten it's duration.

My partner and I were planning to buy a house in February / March - we've definitely put those plans on hold for several reasons

1) Whilst we are lucky in that both of our jobs are more certain than a lot of Australian's (but still, nobody is totally safe), we don't want to make a significant acquisition in such a risky time.
2) With so many Australian's likely to be underemployed or unemployed as a result of this, I can't imagine how house prices could continue to rise - so we are going to sit and save and be ready to invest when there is some clean air.

The risk on waiting is that there will be many many people in the same boat as us, and I expect huge upward swings in property and shares when there is finally some clean air.

 

If you can afford to buy now and have job / income security just get in now if it’s a PPOR. It might reduce in value a bit but the house won’t shrink in size and the growth will come with the cycle.

 

Corona is under control in China. Europe is now the epicentre. They reckon these preventative measures will stop the virus quickly. I think the good times aren't too far away. Might celebrate with a crisp corona....the Mexicana pale ale...andale andale arriba arriba!

 

More pain to come. Corona will break out severely in Australia probably kill at least 700000 people

 

Problem is ...i wish China had it under control...

Wuhan is still in lock down...6 weeks.

 

Scariest part is when the Chinese government says Corona virus has been removed from China and the rest of the world believes it allowing Chinese to travel to their countries spreading the virus again

 

Going to shop today, wonder what else will need to be rationed besides toilet paper.

I need brazil nuts.... lets hope they are not out of stock

 

True...

All china travel should have been banned the first day we knew about it. All chinese citizens / tourists in Aus deported within 24 hours.

 

Doh, media reckons they got it under contol.

The Chinese govt is also gonna ban the eating of wild animals.

So if you're a bit peckish at night you can't just hit a bat with a stick and start chomping. Throw it in the fry pan first with a little oil and some herbs. Medium heat for 7 minutes a side.

 

Well that is true. Irony is now China is quarantining all foreigners. If Abbott or Dutton were in power they would’ve controlled the situation - assuming Dutton doesn’t contract the virus.

 

He's already hot

https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/dutton-was-not-infectious-in-washington-c-744948