The Australian Capital Territory has recorded a slump in the overall property industry confidence but the local market is still optimistic about house price growth, according to the latest survey from ANZ and the Property Council.
The ACT's confidence level dropped to 81 points for the December quarter, significantly below last year's 144 points. In fact, more than half of the respondents in the survey are not expecting conditions to improve in the next three months.
Adina Cirson, executive director for ACT at the Property Council, said the uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 outbreak will continue to dampen the overall property sentiment.
"Forward work schedule expectations for the next 12 months have dipped into the negative after the previous quarter showed positive signs. Similarly, concern about the construction pipeline is impacting the ability to increase staffing levels, which has also slipped into the negative," she said.
Cirson said it is concerning that the outlook for these factors remained negative despite the ACT recording no new cases of COVID-19.
Still, housing growth expectations turned positive after two consecutive quarters of sitting in negative territory.
"Expectations were buoyed by the positive impact that the sector is seeing through roll out of the HomeBuilder grant, with nearly 80% of developers operating in the residential sector believing that it is positively impacting their businesses," Cirson said.
