Coronavirus fears didn't seem to out a dampener on people buying houses in the Illawarra last month.
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According to figures from property data analysts Corelogic, Illawarra house prices rose 1.25 per cent in March - the eighth consecutive rise.
There were also 513 sales for the month - the highest in the last two years.
"Before looking at these numbers I would have expected March to be down because of the uncertainty created by the coronavirus saga," said UOW economist Alex Frino.
"I think it's a surprise that the uncertainty hasn't already rattled the real estate market."
Prof Frino said the real estate market's performance stood in stark contrast to what had happened to the stock market in recent months.
"That fell dramatically in February, almost 10 per cent, and it fell 20 per cent in March," he said.
"Investors are very aware of coronavirus hitting asset prices but not so much for real estate markets."
However Prof Frino doesn't think the Illawarra real estate market is immune from the economic effects of the coronavirus.
That hit is coming soon, but Prof Frino said it was at least a positive the market was going into a rough patch in good shape.
"Unemployment is skyrocketing; we're seeing estimates of unemployment in the United States in the order of 30 per cent," he said.
"I think that's not an unreasonable estimate for Australia and I don't think it's an unreasonable estimate for the Illawarra region as well.
"With the uncertainty that creates, I think there's no doubt that will have an impact on the real estate market."
Something else that surprised Prof Frino about the March figures was that people weren't put off by seeing what was happening around them, and then delaying their purchase.
"Even though these transactions are happening in January and February, you can imagine people looking around in March when they're about to close and seeing people being laid off, mothballing businesses," he said.
"That seems not to have rattled them at all."