Half-yearly sentiment survey 2011

Brokers realise new business opportunities could soon be coming their way, which perhaps explains why a vast majority believe the Reserve Bank of Australia is doing a good job when it comes to controlling inflation.

But while the Reserve Bank gets a round of applause from brokers, the federal government does not fare quite as well.

According to The Adviser’s half-yearly sentiment survey, a massive 81 per cent of brokers do not believe the government is doing a good job of managing the economy.

Perhaps this is why so many brokers expect property prices to fall over the coming six months.

According to the survey, 62.1 per cent of respondents believe property in their state will fall in price over the next six months – 34.7 per cent more than in the third quarter of 2011.

Despite this, a majority of brokers expect sales to remain the same, with 53.8 per cent of brokers believing that property sales over the next half year will remain stagnant – mostly unchanged from the third quarter of 2011 – with a drop of just 0.1 per cent.

Of those purchasing property, brokers believe refinancers will dominate the market, with 55.1 per cent saying this will be the prevailing trend in the near future.

Meanwhile, first home buyers appear to be all but out of the race, with just 5.4 per cent of brokers believing this sector will dominate over the coming six months.

Regardless of which buyer segment dominates, however, one thing remains clear: Brokers are “cautiously optimistic” about the future, a significant change from two years ago when sentiment around that issue as “poor”.

One in five expects economic conditions – and, in turn, business conditions – to improve over the coming six months.

Half-Yearly
Sentiment Survey

Brokers applaud the Reserve Bank but slam the federal government in The Adviser’s latest
half-yearly sentiment survey

With the official cash rate having tumbled from 4.75 per cent to 3.75 per cent in six months, 57.3 per cent of brokers believe the new cash rate will result in an increase in the volume of loans.

Brokers realise new business opportunities could soon be coming their way, which perhaps explains why a vast majority believe the Reserve Bank of Australia is doing a good job when it comes to controlling inflation.

But while the Reserve Bank gets a round of applause from brokers, the federal government does not fare quite as well.

According to The Adviser’s half-yearly sentiment survey, a massive 81 per cent of brokers do not believe the government is doing a good job of managing the economy.

Perhaps this is why so many brokers expect property prices to fall over the coming six months.

According to the survey, 62.1 per cent of respondents believe property in their state will fall in price over the next six months – 34.7 per cent more than in the third quarter of 2011.

Despite this, a majority of brokers expect sales to remain the same, with 53.8 per cent of brokers believing that property sales over the next half year will remain stagnant – mostly unchanged from the third quarter of 2011 – with a drop of just 0.1 per cent.

Of those purchasing property, brokers believe refinancers will dominate the market, with 55.1 per cent saying this will be the prevailing trend in the near future.

Meanwhile, first home buyers appear to be all but out of the race, with just 5.4 per cent of brokers believing this sector will dominate over the coming six months.

Regardless of which buyer segment dominates, however, one thing remains clear: Brokers are “cautiously optimistic” about the future, a significant change from two years ago when sentiment around that issue as “poor”.

One in five expects economic conditions – and, in turn, business conditions – to improve over the coming six months.