“DEVASTATING DROP: Alarming prediction for Australia’s house prices! 30 percent crash of property prices. Sydney median price falls to $500 thousand dollars.”

Wow. Did the US suffer a massive financial collapse or are we at war?

I thought I had woken up in a different dimension. But then I realised, ah it’s not some sort of alternative reality, this is the world we live in. One where influence is used to cause panic, as people that panic are predictable and therefore are vulnerable and therefore money can be made off of.

So I read that Commonwealth Bank of Australia predicts that the whole of Australia’s property market is going to collapse. Where do they get those numbers from? Does anyone even know how this is being calculated? Do they even know themselves? News.com.au eagerly posted this article on their website and a lot of media followed unfortunately, without even bothering to question how the CBA gets to this prediction. What could be the benefit for them, are they short in cash and would they benefit from people sitting on their hands, leaving their money in the bank? What data are they using and more importantly, what data are they choosing to not use? Have they considered the property market sentiment? I hear from lots of property market professionals that demand has picked up significantly in the last 2 weeks, since it became clear Australia is doing a good job in flattening the curve and we are starting to look ahead again.

How about the Early Market Indicators report from Corelogic that came out a few days ago? That clearly shows that pre-listing activity is up quite a bit and at the end of April it was even higher than the same time last year. It also shows mortgage activity is up compared to the same time last year. Those are some stats to consider. How about the fact that NSW recorded a significant increase in auction clearance rates the very first weekend where on site auctions and group inspections were allowed?

I foresee that Melbourne will follow suit, now that on-site auctions and group inspections are also allowed there. Imagine what will happen now that many vendors choose to switch their marketing campaigns from private sale to auction? I can imagine we’ll see some pretty good numbers in May and June. What about all the cashed up Chinese buyers who are already active in the market again?

Look, I’m not saying it’s all sunshine and roses from here, don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some worrying stats out there, but those are counterbalanced by some pretty good stats too.

So can we all PLEASE stop simply accepting what the media feeds us and PLEASE do your own research before forming an opinion. Make sure you look for those positive articles and reports, from independent sources that have nothing to win with good or bad stats and have a reputation to uphold. There are plenty out there, look for them.

The property markets in Melbourne and Sydney are still up 12-15 percent over the past 12 months and there is very little out there that could cause it to crash.