The Border housing market has managed to defy grave coronavirus predictions and survive the lockdown period relatively unscathed, agents say.
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As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic reached Australian shores, experts including NAB predicted house prices could fall by up to 30 percent, but in the Border and North East even the more conservative negative forecasts failed to eventuate.
Stean Nicholls director Nicholas Clark said house prices in Albury and Wodonga remained stable.
"What's become evident is there is a bit of a shortage of properties coming into the market," he said.
"A lot of owners have decided to hold off [selling] during this time. That coupled with the general decrease in new homes coming onto the market around winter has created a bit of a shortage in terms of volume that has stablised prices."
Sales agent Sue Moss with McGrath Estate Agents, formerly known as Zelle, said initial predictions were concerning, but she was still receiving plenty of strong inquiries and there was significant action on online real estate platforms.
"We didn't see a shift in house prices despite economists predicting falls," she said.
"People seem to have more time to look and time to prepare.
"If people are looking to buy, and find the right house now I wouldn't wait, go for it or you might end up paying more in a few months."
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Mr Nicholls said when coronavirus restrictions first began there was some inactivity in the Border housing market, but now open houses and auctions were allowed again things had started to move on.
He said people looking to buy a home should be aware that it seems to be taking longer for financing to be processed.
On Wednesday, the Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declared the country was officially in a recession for the first time since the 1990s.
Despite this, Mr Nicholls was optimistic.
He said generally in Albury-Wodonga prices stable during recession but the volume of transactions tend to drop in during financial lulls.
"The amount of sales or activity might come down a bit, but that generally marries up with less property coming on to the market," he said.
Ms Moss doesn't believe the recession would hugely impact the market in Albury or Wodonga which seemed to be buoyed by tree-changers looking for affordable prices they can't find it metro cities.
"I don't think it's going to hurt us, I'm being positive," she said.
"We haven't got a crystal ball but we're on track...
"A lot of buyers are relocating [from cities] which helps us here."