Property Upswing Predicted

Property professionals and investors believe Australia is approaching the next upswing in its property cycle, according to a survey conducted by Colliers International.

Most investors believe property is somewhere between four o’clock and six o’clock on the property clock. Six o’clock is considered to be the bottom of the cycle, while nine o’clock represents the upswing, 12 o’clock is the peak and three o’clock is the downswing.

Colliers International asked its institutional and private clients across Australia to plot where the market sits on the property clock, with 42 per cent of its respondents in charge of a portfolio of $1 billion or more.

Felice Spark, director of commercial research at Colliers International, says the residential market is providing the first ‘green shoots’ of growth.

“Typically when the cycle starts to improve we see the first signs of positive growth in the residential sector and this has just started to happen in recent weeks in Australia, providing a strong indication that the tide may be about to turn,” Spark explains.

“Thirty-six per cent of investors surveyed believe Australia is at five o’clock on the property clock, with a further 36 per cent identifying either four or six o’clock,” she adds.

Asked when the upswing would be well under way, 64 per cent of respondents nominated 2010, with more inclined to think it will occur in the latter half of the year.

John Marasco, director of investment sales at Colliers, says the survey results indicate that “the window of opportunity for the best purchases will soon close”.

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source: Australian Property Investor