Sky News, March 2020: property in the first week of the pandemic
I went on Sky News the week the WHO declared a pandemic. The question every investor was asking: do we freeze, or do we position?
The shock
On 11 March 2020 the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. By the end of that week the ASX had fallen more than 20% from its February peak and the RBA had cut the cash rate to 0.50%. Auction clearance rates in Sydney and Melbourne held above 70% the weekend before lockdowns — and then collapsed.
What I said on air
My view at the time was unfashionable: this was a liquidity event, not a housing event. Australia entered the pandemic with the tightest new-build pipeline in a decade and a banking system that had just been through the Royal Commission. The setup for a supply-led price recovery was already in place — investors just needed to survive the next 90 days.
Dax Stanley
Founder & Principal Strategist, Hera Property. #1 international bestselling author of Real Estate Investing Using ChatGPT.