The national recovery is likely to continue but questions remain over the sustainability of the residential property boom once government support measures drop.

“Australian home prices are being boosted by record low mortgage rates, government home buyer incentives, income support measures and bank payment holidays, but high unemployment, a stop to immigration and weak rental markets will likely weigh on inner city areas and units in Melbourne and Sydney,” AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said.
“Outer suburbs, houses, smaller cities and regional areas will see stronger gains in 2021.”
Economist Louis Christopher says the federal government is likely to extend the JobKeeper payments due to end in March by another six months to prevent the hit to employment that would likely trigger widespread decline in housing values.
Sydney’s pace of growth is likely to pick up to 0.7 per cent from November’s 0.4 gain, Melbourne is likely to show a 1 per cent increase in December after 0.7 per cent the previous month and Brisbane is likely to lead the pack with a 1.2 per cent gain double November’s 0.6 per cent monthly rise.
Home sales that will have boosted the December figures include the above-reserve $10.55 million sale of an art deco-style duplex at 1 Wolseley Road in Sydney’s Coogee, with views to Coogee Beach and Wedding Cake Island, the $3.25 million sale of a three-bedroom house at 76 Leopold Street in Melbourne’s South Yarra, and the sale for $1,212,000 of a four-bedroom house at 21 Marshall Avenue in inner Brisbane’s Seven Hills.
The figures show Adelaide’s pace of gain likely to have slowed to 1.1 per cent in December from 1.3 per cent in November, and Perth to be unchanged at 1.1 per cent.
The more detailed numbers to be published on Monday will include growth for Canberra and Darwin, which both surged in November with a 1.9 per cent leap, and Hobart, which enjoyed a 1.4 per cent month-on-month increase that month.
On Christmas Eve, the $12.5 million sale of a three-level, 13-bedroom house at 8 Challis Avenue on 650 square metres in Sydney’s Potts Point, previously used as the boutique hotel Simpsons, settled in the name of Amber Symond, the wife of Aussie Home Loans founder Aussie John Symond.