The latest research from the Property Council of Australia (PCA) has highlighted a notable downturn in sentiment regarding the country's property sector.
As part of the organisation's annual Property Industry Conference Survey, the industry's sentiment index score was shown to have diminished from 113 to 106 between the June and September quarters this year.
"Expectations for staffing levels and forward work are the cause for most concern. Staffing level expectations have been in decline for four quarters but now appear to be accelerating downward," commented PCA chief executive Peter Verwer.
He added that expectations for the Australian property market are now in line with more overriding concerns regarding the economy as a whole, but a recovery in sentiment could now be reliant on further interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Market analyst and housing expert Catherine Cashmore wrote in Property Observer earlier this month that government policy will now ultimately play a key role in the recovery of the Australian property market and it is therefore important ministers make the right decisions.
Posted by Craig Francis
