Real estate expert and Selling Houses host Andrew Winter on his property predictions amid coronavirus

Property expert Andrew Winter, like most of us, is experiencing a pandemic for the first time. But he has some predictions as to how it will impact the housing market.

Property guru Andrew Winter has some advice for those worrying about the dire state of the property market.

“The market doesn’t register right now, it will stop. It doesn’t exist. But let’s put a smile on people’s faces and think of the future,” he told news.com.au.

The TV host and real estate expert, whose popular series Selling Houses Australia will air its 13th season on Foxtel tonight, said he was one of the many Australians who weren’t feeling too optimistic right now amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

It goes without saying it’s not the time to buy or sell homes, no matter what market you’re living or looking to invest in.

The problem is most of us have never lived through a pandemic before, so it’s difficult to make predictions. But Winter is confident we’ll come out the other side and many sectors – including property – will boom.

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Host of Selling Houses Australia Andrew Winter says property will bounce back. Picture: Foxtel

“Real estate has different components that drive it, which include the general economy, employment, access to home loans, interest rates and the other factor that is quite important is the feel-good factor,” he said.

“One of the things that can fuel property and high demand and get the market going is everybody reading, ‘Now is a good time to buy.’ And I think when we come out of lockdown there will be that feel-good factor again.

“When we come out of this it’s not going to be normal life as we know it.

“We’re not going to go to Europe or on international holiday, but we’ll be so relieved to live in an amazing country, we may want to move to a different house, or rent a different house, there’ll be a lot of desire to get on with normal life.

“It will be fuelled by, ‘We’re out the other side, let’s get going, let’s get on with it.’”

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Where the boom will hit first depends on a number of factors, Winter said. Regional markets could take longer to swing back. But then again, a lot of hard-hit Aussies might want the financial security of going for a cheaper home option.

“Regional markets could get a kick, those with mortgages could just decide now is the time to get out of the expensive house and go somewhere cheaper,” Winter said.

“And there could be people who just decide life’s too short and they want a complete change.

“The biggest negative will be that we do not know how unemployment will be.

“(But) when we come back out the other side, I’m thinking the feeling will be, ‘Thank goodness, we can go see family, let’s get on a plane,’ and people will be desperate to go sit at their local coffee shop, and have a big meal at a nice restaurant, and the same will apply to real estate.”

While many of us are in limbo as we self-isolate at home, with a bulk of businesses forced to close down, Winter said this was an ideal time to prepare your home to sell, or get your ducks in a row if you’re looking to buy.

“In respect to selling, it’s obviously about maintenance. It’s a great opportunity to declutter and get the house ready,” he said.

“But what you’ve got to be prepared for is it may or may not be a perfect time to put the house for sale as soon as lockdown is over.

“A lot of sellers could go, ‘Let’s get out of here,’ and want to get it done, or it could be the opposite where very few do and you might actually do well because there’s a lack of supply.

“You’ve got to adapt to the market.

“For first homebuyers, it’s a whole different thing. They may have savings that are getting eaten away depending on if they’re still working.

“My advice is try and pick up the pieces first and not allow yourself to get hit too hard financially.”

Selling Houses Australia airs on Foxtel’s LifeStyle every Wednesday at 8.30pm, or available to stream on demand