If the last 18 months have taught us anything as a buyers agency, it’s that you really need to stop paying attention to the media headlines and price predictions from the so-called experts.
If we look back to the middle part of 2020, many of the experts, media commentators and even large banks and economists were predicting dire falls in the property market. Many believed we could see anything from 30-40% price falls as they believed demand would dry up on the back of widespread lockdowns and weakening economic conditions.
As we know, these predictions were not only wildly wrong, but the market ultimately transformed into what many were describing as the strongest property market they had ever seen. How things can change.
That brings us to where we are today, with many of these same people coming out and telling us that the market is still incredibly strong and we should expect these conditions to continue going forward.
The reality is that we should now know that these wild predictions should be ignored.
In 12 months time, there will likely be some other thing driving the news headlines, whether that’s interest rates, the RBA, APRA or any number of political events.
As property investors, you need to spend more time focusing on the things that you can control yourself and not listening to the media.
You should be looking to buy when your personal situation is right, not when the media is ramping up their doomsday predictions or when they are pumping up the latest market boom.
If you’re looking to buy property in areas that perform over a long period of time, such as many blue-chip areas of Sydney, a far better philosophy is to buy simply when you can afford to do so.
Similarly, you should look to enter the market when you have the cash flow in place to be able to hold that investment, even if interest rates creep higher. Invariably, if you are looking to buy into a blue-chip area, these locations will likely be negatively geared. However, that will be compensated by the fact that they will outperform in terms of future growth and also hold up far better when outside factors impact the overall property market.
Finally, you should be looking to buy a property when you’re emotionally ready to do so. If you’re buying a property because the market is hot, that might not be the right reason to be entering the market.
Property is a long term proposition and as such, you should be buying when you are in a position to hold that property for the medium to long term.
So while we do like to see property markets moving higher, as has been the case over the past 12 months, before looking to buy, you need to closely examine your own personal situation and block out a lot of the media noise that can negatively impact your decision making.
As the top buyers agency in Sydney, our advice: Property investing is not a short-term proposition and therefore you shouldn’t be focused on the short term factors that you hear in the media. Whether they are good or bad.