As the Northern Rivers slowly emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, real estate is one of the markers of the recovery.
If the experience of Elders Lennox is typical, the signs are looking very good, with buyer sentiment strong and vendor confidence returning to the local market since the ban on open homes and auctions was relaxed.
Licensee-in-Charge Nick Bordin told Echonetdaily, ‘Our market experienced a short-term pause, but buyer and seller confidence is now up, which is largely due to our region offering better affordability and a more alluring lifestyle for those seeking to escape major cities. Add to this record low interest rates and stimulus packages driving the economy, and it’s a recipe for a strong rebound.’
Mr Bordin said the reports of realestate.com.au show that search enquiries for Northern NSW have actually increased since COVID-19, and not just for Byron Bay, but other desirable areas including Bangalow, Lennox Head, Skennars Head, East Ballina and the hinterland villages.
‘The good news is our recent results show there are great opportunities for sellers in our market to take advantage of strong buyer interest,’ said Mr Bordin. ‘We have vendors who have been waiting for the dust to settle to list their property and are now feeling more confident about taking their property to market because of the buyer demand we’ve seen.
‘Overall, we feel very positive about the real estate sector in our region post-pandemic.’
Pubs and clubs reopening
A little further south, at the Ballina RSL Club, the outlook is also positive since re-opening in a limited way.
After almost two weeks back trading, the Ballina RSL told Echonetdaily they enjoyed welcoming their members and guests back to the club.
CEO Bill Coulter said, ‘We wanted to make the club facilities as back to normal as we could for the comfort of our patrons.’
‘Bingo has been at capacity and our raffles have been well received,’ he added.
The club are hopeful that the next government announcement will increase allowable numbers. This will allow them to look at entertainment options again, along with other promotional activities. Food and beverage offerings are likely to increase as well.
Of course there are many other businesses in the region who are still doing it very tough.
There will be more recovery stories to come.
How surprising, an estate agent talking up the market…
Real estate agents pumping up their own industry’s tyres is getting very boring, and more importantly, letting it go unchallenged in the media has helped, in some measure, to make housing less affordable.
Where is the journalistic effort to source evidence to back up the assertions in this advertorial for this agent to gain Lennox Head listings ?
Exactly Jimbo!
The Echo needs to pay the bills and the sad commercial reality is that;
1. Property advertising is a major source or revenue that largely helps the Echo’s survival and ability to provide us with mostly unbiased, good content &
2. As a result, there is the inevitable unconscious influence when it comes to upholding ournalistic oversight (softer bite on those that feed you).
Easy to comment, harder to manage!
Oh & the other reality…. Lennox or Ballina in recovery? Prices gone anywhere, interest never dropped, only increased. Maybe a bit more fact checking first hey!