“I am not a political person” … Ray White Albury North managing director Andrea Lever says she was only partly quoted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in relation to housing market trends. Photo: Ray White.
It’s not every day the Prime Minister mentions your name, as longstanding Albury real estate agent Andrea Lever ruefully points out.
The rather dubious honour came about during an address to parliament on 1 July where Anthony Albanese was busy defending the government’s sweeping housing and tax reforms.
During his address, the PM read out a quote from Ms Lever citing an increase in first-time buyer confidence in the local market.
“… In Albury, Andrea Lever from Ray White Albury North managing director, said this: First-home buyer confidence was on the rise, I don’t feel they are competing with as many investors,” Mr Albanese read from a piece of paper to small cheers from his team.
Ms Lever later took to her own personal social media to express the fact she was only partly quoted on the issue – “Not the full story … just saying” (accompanied by a crying laughing emoji) – and says she has been surprised by the response it has elicited.
On Ray White Albury North’s Facebook page, the real estate firm clarified that “the current market is concerning due a number of political reasons”.
“I encourage first-home buyers to take advantage of the opportunity but honestly hope for the economy that things settle down soon.”
In its recent Budget, the Federal Government announced a raft of housing reforms that aim to deliver 1.2 million new homes by the end of the decade and reverse declines in home-ownership rates.
The landmark legislation restricts future negative gearing and capital gains tax benefits strictly to new-builds, while fully grandfathering existing property investments.
The Riverina property market is bracing for a potential wave of investor sell-offs, following the controversial changes.
Ms Lever, who has been with Ray White for 18 years, says the PM partly quoted comments she made to a local reporter during a post-auction interview and the situation was far more complex than the one sentence he cited.
“I’m not a political person,” Ms Lever told Region.
“But in my 18 years I have not seen anything like this since before COVID.
“There has been a significant downturn, not only in investors but buyers in general.
“Investors are cautious and it’s giving first-home buyers confidence right now – in particular our local kids – but this may not be sustainable given the expected increase in rent costs leading to lack of affordability to save for a deposit.
“This is concerning for the market in general.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese quoted Andrea Lever in parliament but did not use her full quote. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
She added that ongoing interest rate rises combined with the recent Budget changes were “worrying investors”.
“What concerns me is that rents will probably rise as a result … no-one is going to be a winner in this.”
While Ms Lever was quick to point there were other agents “who live and breathe this political stuff”, the well-known Border businesswoman certainly has plenty of skin in the game to explain what’s happening in the local market.
The number of people at open homes had diminished drastically, she said.
“Last weekend we had 11 open homes and had nine people in total turn up,” Ms Lever said. “Normally we would expect somewhere in the vicinity of 50 to 60 groups.
“Two of my staff (who had three homes each) had no-one turn up!”
Ms Lever said those dire numbers took her back to pre-COVID times and said it was hugely disappointing to owners “who have gone to all the effort” to prepare their properties for inspection.
On Thursday, 2 July, there wasn’t a single bid on any of the three properties she had up for auction and, while one sold shortly afterwards, Ms Lever said it was indicative of the current market situation.
“The point is my clearance (at auction) is normally over 85 per cent,” she added.
“It’s not just here – the problem is across the country – and it’s not confined to just auctions.”
A weekly Ray White report on regional auctions in NSW showed the number of auctions were down by 64 per cent with a clearance rate of 43 per cent – 33 per cent down on this time last year, Ms Lever said.
So the numbers tell the story, she added.
Ms Lever said her post certainly got hundreds of people talking and commenting about the reforms, even though the PM’s quote was “only a tiny snippet of what I said”.
“At the end of the day I don’t love politics at all but I have been in the game a long time,” she said.
“All I know from a real estate perspective is this is not good for mums and dads who want to get further in front. This is just making it tougher.”
