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‘Remarkable resilience’: Conveyancers well placed for 2021
Legal and conveyancing professions should be positioning themselves for a strong start to the new year, says GlobalX group chief executive Peter Maloney.
Jerome Doraisamy
Despite the pandemic-inspired recession last year – Australia’s first in three decades – the nation’s property market “appears to have proven itself again with home values”, Australian legal tech provider GlobalX said.
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According to new findings from CoreLogic data, home values ended the year 3 per cent higher than they were in September, which – according to the provider – should provide “new levels of confidence in the market”.
In a statement, the group CEO of GlobalX, Peter Maloney (pictured), said that the legal and conveyancing professions should be positioning themselves for a strong start to 2021.
“There is no doubt that legal and conveyancing firms were impacted during COVID by the property market’s volatility, but they have shown remarkable resilience to come out stronger than ever on the other side,” he said.
“For those firms who spent time reassessing and realigning their business strategies and operating models to embrace digital transformation – whilst also keeping their employees and customers front of mind, have never been better positioned to capitalise on the property market’s momentum that we’re currently seeing.”
CoreLogic further reported that house values had lifted by 0.9 per cent through January, GlobalX continued, beating the previous high recorded in September 2017. The index is now 1 per cent higher, the provider noted, than its levels pre-pandemic, with Darwin, Hobart and Perth faring best among the major cities.
“We’re also seeing regional areas continue to out-perform the capital cities, especially in NSW and Victoria. The events of COVID-have reshaped the pattern of demand for housing across the country – with working from home being the ‘new normal,’ resulting in an upward trend with regional home buyers,” Mr Maloney advised.
“Working from home has eliminated the need to be so closely located to CBD locations and also provides better housing affordability.”
He added that whilst house values are “living alongside low advertised supply levels”, there will be continued pressure on housing prices. It is clear, Mr Maloney mused, that the “strong” housing demand is a result of Australians looking to take advantage of HomeBuilder grants and low-interest rates.
Moreover, with national median house prices rising 4.1 per cent in the last quarter, Australia has witnessed the “steepest quarterly jump” in the last four years.
“With the increase we are seeing in buyer activity at the start of 2021, it marks a rapid recovery from losses suffered during the pandemic,” Mr Maloney concluded.
The comments follow Mr Maloney’s appearance on The Lawyers Weekly Show in October of last year, during which he shed light on the flow-on effects the COVID-19 pandemic has bestowed upon the legal professional, including the greater uptick in utilisation of digital solutions, and what it might mean for the business of law going forward.
