While the COVID-19 outbreak has dampened sellers’ satisfaction in many areas, a study by RateMyAgent showed that its impact was not as severe as anticipated, particularly in some states.
During the first quarter of the year, there was a substantial increase in overall price satisfaction and a recovery trend, with the net vendor happiness level increasing 17 percentage points to 42%. However, the COVID-19 restrictions have led to a drop in seller satisfaction levels to 37% in April.
Mark Armstrong, CEO of RateMyAgent, said the outbreak's initial impact on the housing market was not as severe as expected, indicating that the housing market remained resilient.
"While we still need to analyse the long-term effect of the pandemic and keep a close eye on economic conditions, we are seeing the industry begin to recover, particularly with the easing of restrictions and a slight drop in the national house price," he said.
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During the month, seller satisfaction levels remained elevated in Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and South Australia despite the overall downtrend.
"We will be closely monitoring vendor price satisfaction in the coming months, to see if industry predictions regarding June as the new March or even spring, with more stock coming into the market, will come to fruition," Armstrong said.
Metro areas recorded the most significant decline in vendor happiness, with Melbourne and Sydney reporting respective decreases of 10 and 16 percentage points. Some sellers in regional areas in Victoria and Queensland were also not as satisfied compared to the first three months of the year.
The decline in satisfaction was prominent in the premium end of the market, which consists of homes valued at more than $1.5m. During the month, the seller satisfaction in this segment dropped to 25%.
The graphic below shows the satisfaction levels in each state or territory:
