The coronavirus pandemic has meant the number of residential property sales in the Illawarra has "dried right up", an expert says.
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Property valuation and advisory company Herron Todd White have looked at movements within various markets in the Illawarra.
Residential
Chris McKenna, Herron Todd White's residential Leader - NSW and ACT said the market throughout the Illawarra has been strong through the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, with prices starting to pick up and selling periods dropping.
He said it started to become common that a property would be listed and sold within a week or two, if not a matter of days.
"First home buyer markets appeared to be having the most demand, so this would be in the lower price brackets through the region - think $600,000-700,000 in the northern suburbs, and $400,000-$500,000 in the southern suburbs," he said.
"All that has since been thrown on its head with the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It has been since mid-March that things have started to slow up as restrictions on movement and more recently open homes and auctions have come into place.
"The market is continuing on, sales are happening and these sales have still been at decent prices, with no obvious signs of major discounting. But the number of sales has certainly dried right up."
Mr McKenna cited market activity during the week of April 13-19 as an example.
He said last week there were 10 advised residential sales in the Wollongong LGA, and 28 the week prior.
"Compare this with a 'normal', non-pandemic week; there were 102 sales in the week of February 17-23, or a year ago there were 88 sales in the week April 15-21.
"The outlook for the remainder of the year is difficult to predict. It is going to be significantly impacted by government restrictions, unemployment and stimulus packages."
Commercial - office
Scott Russell, Herron Todd White's commercial division leader - South East NSW & ACT said the region's commercial/office property market was currently in a "stall mode" due to the pandemic.
He said the Wollongong area's market has gathered momentum over the past few years, reflecting the positive change that is taking place in the region as it continues its transformation to a knowledge-based economy.
The low A-grade vacancy rate and increasing tenant demand for high-quality office space has resulted in new office stock being developed, such as Gateway on Keira which is due for completion circa late 2020.
"It's really hard to forecast once the dust has settled from coronavirus, what impact it's going to have on the office market," he said.
"It's going to set it back in the short-term... There's going to be a lot of businesses that are going to postpone decisions, whether that's entering into new lease agreements, expansion space or relocation.
"All these decisions being put on hold is going to delay things for a good six to 12-month period.
"On the buyer side, those looking to invest or buy for owner/occupation will postpone those decisions."