Confidence in Australian property rises

Despite a cooling in many of the nation’s most prominent property markets, confidence in Australian real estate has risen to its highest level in six years, according to a new report. 

The latest ANZ/Property Council of Australia report says that whilst the expectation for capital growth in retail property and residential property in NSW is negative, confidence is rising across the state in the retirement living and hotel sectors. 

Confidence levels in South Australia, Queensland and the ACT are the stand-outs in terms of improvement this quarter.

The survey is the largest of its type and measures the views of more than 1,000 property industry professionals across the country. The national confidence index for the June quarter climbed four points to 143, the highest level in its six-year history. A score of 100 is considered neutral.

To add to the growing confidence, economists from ANZ Bank said it no longer expects the RBA to raise rates this year. It expected prices to rise 2 per cent nationally in 2018, higher than the 1.4 per cent increase it predicted two weeks ago.