The lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria will encourage prospective buyers to consider South Australia this spring selling season.
Latest figures from Raine & Horne show an all-time high demand for homes in South Australia, which has pushed property values up by 15.8% since the state made a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020.
Raine & Horne general manager James Trimble said buyer interest in South Australian properties, particularly in Adelaide, has been outstripping available supply over the period.
In fact, since July 2020, property settlements have increased by 37% while the number of homes up for grabs were down by 22.5%.
"In Adelaide, we don’t have enough properties for sale to meet the demand of local first home buyers, upgraders or downsizers, let alone interstate buyers seeking to call South Australia home," he said.
Interstate buyers flocking the state
Raine & Horne reported there was a 30% annual surge in interstate buyer enquiries in March 2021.
This was supported by the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) which showed the state hit its highest interstate migration on record at 650 people over the first quarter of the year.
The state welcomed even more interstate buyers during the June quarter.
The segment has grown by 11% compared to the previous quarter and almost tripled from the same quarter last year.
South Australia recorded whopping gains in buyers from Victoria (244.8%) and New South Wales/ACT (236.1%).
Mr Trimble said interstate buyers are attracted by the great value and returns from property in the state.
These recent gains have boosted the share of interstate buyers in the state's residential property sales, from 8.25% in 2020 to 12.8% in the second quarter of 2021.
Adelaide had one of the strongest monthly and annual gains in prices in August, up by 1.9% and 22.7% respectively, according to CoreLogic.
Despite these gains, the median price in Adelaide has remained one of the most affordable at $522,180.
"The combination of more local and interstate buyers and fewer listings coming to market means we expect a bumper spring 2021 selling market for those vendors who choose to list between now and Christmas," Mr Trimble said.
Overall listings on a downtrend
Raine & Horne Unley co-principal Jacky Yang said some portions of the state, particularly the suburbs in Adelaide have reported short supply in listings over the last 12 months.
Some of the markets with tight supply of homes were Hyde Park, Unley, Unley Park, Malvern, and Parkside.
"In our patch, sales volumes are very tight, yet buyer demand is strong and as such, we have enjoyed a tremendous year with values closer to 20% higher than 12 months ago," Mr Yang said.
"We are still generating appraisals but are encouraging vendors who are considering a sale to take advantage of unprecedented buyer demand to realise some decent capital growth between now and Christmas.”
According to SQM Research, Adelaide had one of the largest annual declines in property listings in August, hitting a 26.2% decrease.
However, it appears sellers are now taking advantage of the high demand as new listings grow by 10.5% monthly and 5.2% annually.
