The ACT lockdown has drastically altered the real estate market and the daily life of real estate agents for the foreseeable future.
For Luton Properties Manuka agent Sophie Luton, she feels relieved she already had the tools to move her business completely online, and said she’s been doing well considering the circumstances.
“It’s been pretty great considering because I’ve still been able to sell virtually while sitting at home, so it’s been going as well as we hoped it could,” Ms Luton said.
“Obviously, not everyone is prepared to purchase virtually but I’ve sold a couple of properties already and had a record price sale in Rivett where 10 out of the 12 people who registered hadn’t physically been through the property.”
She said she had an online auction for a home in Pearce recently, which was put online the day lockdown began and originally set as a forthcoming auction.
A wave of inquiries came through pushing them to set a date and, with eight registered bidders, it sold for $627,000.
“It’s hard because we’d love to take people through in person. Real estate agents are very social by nature, and it’s harder to make those sorts of connections from behind a screen but everyone has been doing a great job under the circumstances,” Ms Luton said.
North Canberra McGrath agent Natalie Kokic Schmidt, shared a similar sentiment, revealing the lockdown hasn’t affected the sales market but has changed the way she’s been selling.
“Everything is still going really well, I think I return 30 calls a day at the moment, but the most difficult thing is not being able to inspect the homes,” Ms Kokic Schmidt said.
“A lot of people are happy to purchase without viewing but there are still some people who understandably are not comfortable with that.”
She has achieved a 100 per cent clearance rate for online auctions since the beginning of lockdown. While most of the buyers and sellers were nervous at the start, after explaining the systems, they feel a lot better about the concept.
Property stylists haven’t been able to enter properties and Ms Kokic Schmidt said she feels for them the most during lockdown, and the feedback from sellers reveals they would prefer to have their homes styled before they hit the market.
From Friday 17 September, restrictions have been eased to allow real estate agents to conduct property inspections with one household by appointment.
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