Reporting in The Urban Developer, CoreLogic and ANZ predict the economic impact of COVID-19, including the halt to immigration, will see Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart home prices drop 13% and bounce back to 10% down in 2020. Other cities will be less impacted.

Housing construction is expected to decline by 15% this year, a downward trend since 2018. From peak to trough construction will be down 25% by late this year. This should increase demand on existing homes.

For retirement village marketers however, these declining figures are not a true reflection of the impact falling housing prices will have on the traditional village buyer.

With 65% of villages over 25 years of age and the national average value of village homes being $459,000, according to the 2019 PwC Property Council Retirement Census, most customers will be selling their family home in the lower priced markets which attract first home buyers and where price falls are lowest.

The same PwC census demonstrates that the average price of a village home compared to the median price of a private home is just 64%.

The challenge for village salespeople is to overcome the emotions of customers selling, with strong value propositions. Housing prices are not the real challenge.