The property market is slated to be resilient even with a potential economic downturn, says a property expert.
Recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the unemployment rate has risen to 7.4% in June, the highest level since November 1998. This means that close to 1 million of the working population are unemployed.
Peter Koulizos, chairperson of the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA), said while this could signal an economic downturn, the property market is likely to weather any potential impacts.
Koulizos said homeowners and property investors should take comfort in the resilience of real estate during previous economic upheavals.
"In fact, we are better placed than in previous downturns because of the many financial support packages, such as JobKeeper and JobSeeker, as well as the mortgage repayment pauses available for borrowers," he said.
Five years after each of the most recent economic downturns since the 1970s, house prices in capital cities increased substantially, according to research from PIPA.
"Some locations performed better than others, mostly likely due to local economic factors after each economic contraction," he said. "Property has shown its resilience through economic shocks before and we have no reason to expect it won't do so again. There is no need to panic."
The table below shows the price gains in each capital city five years after each recession:
