Eliza Owen
2 Sep 2021
The past 16 months have seen remarkable levels of adaption in the real estate sector, government stimulus and economic decline and recovery. Amid renewed and extended lockdowns, some indicators suggest the housing market has been even more resilient to lockdowns in 2021 than through 2020. But there is some suggestion not all pockets of the housing market remain robust.
This article unpacks a few ways housing market performance has evolved through lockdown in 2021 compared with 2020.
Consumer confidence has been more resilient
Consumer sentiment is an economic indicator that is generally positively correlated with home sales. This makes sense, given consumers would presumably be optimistic about their own financial situation when deciding to make a large financial commitment like a home purchase.
The consumer sentiment response has changed with each new set of extended lockdowns through COVID-19, with the decline in sentiment in 2021 becoming shallower, but lasting longer.
Figure 1 compares the ANZ Roy Morgan weekly consumer sentiment index through various lockdowns since March 2020, represented by the shaded areas in the chart.
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