The avalanche of interest in Bendigo's property market has been echoed across the nation, as figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the value of new home loan commitments for housing rising 12.6 per cent in August.
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PH Property director Brad Hinton said the First Home Owners Grant has allowed buyers to enter the market for established properties.
"First home buyers in particular are looking to purchase properties that are less than five years old in the $250,000 to $400,000 price bracket," Mr Hinton said.
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"A lot of our recent transactions have been properties that have been recently constructed."
ABS data showed 3,861 new loan commitments to owner-occupier first home buyers were made by Victorians in August, about one-third of Australia's new loan commitments in the segment.
Nationally, the value of that metric was $16.3 billion in August, the highest value in the history of the series.
So far this month, two-thirds of our sales have been to investors or first home buyers and that is a pretty consistent figure.
- Brad Hinton, PH Property director
The 13.6 per cent spike is the largest month-on-month rise, eclipsing the previous record of 10.7 per cent set in July.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's head of economic and market research David Robertson said the ABS data was encouraging.
"The data is consistent with what we are seeing in the network and in particular the past few months, with the First Home Loan Deposit scheme," Mr Robertson said.
"It was very welcome in the federal Budget to see the extension of that scheme.
"While COVID-19 caused a dip in the property market, it was not as noted in regional Victoria and I think first home owners have been looking to take advantage."
ABS head of finance and wealth Amanda Seneviratne said borrower behaviour and lender processing times have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Lenders are reporting to us that current processing times mean that August commitments reflect customer demand in June and early July, prior to Victoria imposing stage three and four restrictions," Ms Seneviratne said.
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Mr Hinton said Bendigo's market has taken the momentum of the recent months into the spring season.
"So far this month, two-thirds of our sales have been to investors or first home buyers and that is a pretty consistent figure," Mr Hinton said.
"It's a pretty hectic time for people looking to buy property and all agencies need more listings as there is still a lot of demand."
Real Estate Institute of Australia president Adrian Kelly said that following the historic fall in the value of new loans in May, the recovery is encouraging.
"It reflects the earlier easing in restrictions on movements and subsequent market response, but does not yet reflect the impact of second wave restrictions in Victoria," Mr Kelly said.
For more property listings, check out Real Estate View, published every Friday and Saturday in the Bendigo Advertiser, or visit realestateview.com.au