7. Ray White Now | JULY 2021 | Page 2

INTRODUCTION
The pandemic may not be over but it ’ s hard to find bad news in the Australian economy right now . Our GDP is back to where it was prior to the pandemic , the only country in the world where that is the case . Job ads are now at a 12 and a half year high and unemployment is coming down far quicker than expected . All of this continues to turbocharge the property market and prices across Australia are now up 10 per cent compared to 12 months ago with , for now , very little sign of a slow down .
With conditions so strong , there continues to be speculation that a dramatic slowdown is imminent . At this stage we are yet to see any signs that this is the case . The number of properties for sale continues to rise and mortgage rates are slowly creeping up and this should calm price growth . For now inflation remains under control and there is no cause for alarm when it comes to interest rate rises . This could of course change quickly and look out for growing speculation as to when the RBA will move on the cash rate .
In this month ’ s edition , we undertake our half yearly State of the States review and take a deep dive into what ’ s happening in each state , looking closely at both a capital city and regional level . With the winter selling season now in full swing , we make a call as to what will happen over the next three months . We also go back in time and have a look at where you should have bought in 2001 ( if you had a crystal ball ) and see which suburbs have seen the strongest price growth in Australia over the past 20 years . Finally , we take a closer look at commercial real estate and delve into whether it ’ s a good investment alternative to residential .
Nerida Conisbee Chief Economist Ray White
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