2020 certainly hasn’t been the year everyone had hoped for. The start of a new decade held so much promise, but instead we were first struck by horrendous bushfires, then shortly after the spread of COVID-19.

No one could have ever seen this coming, and while this year has had a huge impact on people, families, businesses and economies around the world, there have been small silver linings for some.

Here in SA, aside from the minor blips we faced in March and then again in November with the second COVID-19 outbreak, our real estate industry has come away relatively unscathed.

As case numbers, particularly in other parts of the world, turned from bad to worse in March and April, confidence in the real estate market was dwindling. At this time, everyone tended to hold onto their properties waiting to see how everything unfolded. While there was a bit of a slump at this point, as the situation improved across Australia, particularly in the great state we call home, we saw confidence again begin to rise. Through the June and September quarters, we saw the number of properties for sale and the median house price increasing again compared to the same periods in the previous year.

To put it in numbers, at the end of the September quarter, across the state we saw an increase of 2.65% in media house prices from the year prior. In metro-Adelaide, the story was even brighter, with the median house price increasing from $370,000 in 2019 to $410,000 in 2020 – that’s a massive 10.81% growth.

The pandemic also led to other changes across the industry, from the introduction of more virtual tours and zoom meetings with clients, to the switch to a completely online settlement process with eConveyancing. While eConveyancing has been around for some time now, it was officially mandated in August to not only help facilitate the practice of social distancing, but also to streamline the process for conveyancers and their clients.

2020 also saw the implementation of long-awaited changes to land tax, which saw significant wins for some, as well as new Grant schemes introduced and updates made to longstanding ones.

Although this year may have had the potential to bring our industry to a standstill, we appreciate the support the Government has given to consumers to ensure the property market has kept on ticking. With all these Grants and measures now in place, we look forward to saying ‘Goodbye’ to 2020, and ‘Hello’ to the fresh new start 2021 offers.

We hope that all of our clients stay safe and well through the Christmas period, and wish you all a Happy New Year!