Real opportunity

But he said homeowners are reluctant to list, concerned there are no buyers due to Coronavirus and other hardships the community is facing.

The opposite is true in the local area, however, with buyers ‘‘keen and ready to snatch up property in Deniliquin’’.

‘‘What is happening is there are fewer listings, but the demand from the buyers is still okay. So the supply and demand equation has tightened up,’’ Mr Thomson said.

‘‘What that means is the prices we are seeing are being maintained, and in some cases increasing.

‘‘We were under the assumption that it would potentially be a tough period and slow sales, but our sales have maintained, and we have achieved price results at the better end of what we expected.

‘‘We are a safe market and for prospective sellers, right now is a good time (to sell).

‘‘We don’t know what is going to happen in the future, but right now we have good market conditions.

‘‘Historically, we are at record levels for medium price achieved and we will almost have a record year for sales this year in gross terms. 

‘‘That’s not necessarily because of the number of houses though. It is saying we have achieved higher prices, and well in excess of what we predicted.’’

Elders Real Estate agent Lester Wheatley said locally there are two buyers for every property ‘‘in proportionate terms’’.

Elders has 20 to 30 genuine residential houses for sale compared to their average of 60 to 80.

‘‘We are starting to struggle in certain price ranges, but not right across the board,’’ Mr Wheatley said. 

‘‘There are some properties particularly in the higher price range where interest is slow, but in affordable price ranges from $180,000 to $300,000, the market is very strong.’’

In fact, 80 per cent of the market is in that affordable price range.

But it is being viewed as a positive with old stock starting to clear and some of the new listings ‘‘gone within a week’’. 

‘‘That is what causes the price rises. As we clear the older stock, the newer stock will come in at a higher level, so those price rises will start to become apparent over the next few months,’’ Mr Wheatley said.

‘‘That’s all supply and demand.’’

Mr Thomson said, interestingly, the keen buyers are primarily locals.

‘‘We are not getting a heap of buyers out of Melbourne or Sydney, most of it is local,’’ Mr Thomson said. 

‘‘There is a little bit of outside interest, but most of the people moving here have family connections and have been here for holidays in the past, so there is that unique connection to Deni.

‘‘I think there is a slight increase in the number of younger people moving back too, which has been interesting.’’

The rental market is also strong with historically low vacancy rates.

‘‘We would have expected there to be a lot of vacancies in residential properties, but that hasn’t happened,’’ Mr Wheatley said.

‘‘And not only do we have a full book in terms of rental properties, but people are also paying their rent.

‘‘They are aware of the market situation and mostly dealing with it pretty responsibly. That is a reflection of the local economy.’’

Mr Thomson and Mr Wheatley said they expect to start seeing an increase in demand for vacant land too, following on from the announcement of the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant.