To you all,
The good news here in Australia is that we appear to be reducing the incidence of Corona Virus infection significantly, however as the Government have rightfully advised, it is too early to remove some of the commercial and social restrictions which have been placed on us all. However it is time for us all to plan the months ahead on the basis that this wind down on the incidence of the virus continues and the Government is able to ease some of the restrictions.
We at Meares & Associates have decided that, whilst we continue our current situation and remain ‘on call’ for all our clients, we do plan to reopen our office on MONDAY 18th MAY. This will be based on hopefully some liberalisation of restrictions by the Government, and we as a Company continue to adopt social distancing as recommended.
As far as other aspects of our business are concerned, such as office meetings with clients and ‘on farm’ inspections, once again we will be guided by the Government recommendations at the time. With office meetings we would suggest minimising physical meetings within our office, however where necessary these would be carried out. As far as ‘on farm’ inspections are concerned, once again we would be guided by the Government recommendations, which currently allow only one person together with a member of staff at any given time.
WHERE ARE THE MARKETS UP TO?
You will have noticed that overall there has been a reduction in the number of rural properties being actively offered for sale. We believe this has been a sensible approach given that whilst many will argue that the rural property market remains strong and active, a large percentage of our buying strength remains in shutdown due to the closure of non essential services and the closing of our boundaries, both within Australia and internationally. The ‘on farm’ investors have generally carried on ‘business as usual’ with farming practices and livestock markets continuing as normal. However it is the ‘off farm’ component, whether they be ‘local’ or overseas which are in shutdown. This would include the HRI sector (hotels, restaurants and institutions), both within Australia and off shore.
Therefore our recommendation remains that careful consideration should be taken by clients considering offering ‘broad acre’ rural property for sale at present, and that lifestyle rural property, which really depends on the ‘off farm’ sector for buying support in the main, remains on the back burner for the time being.
Let us hope that the infection rate continues to drop and virtually disappear, allowing us all to get back to business as usual as soon as practical.
Should you wish to discuss the above, or their possible implications, any further please do not hesitate to contact any of our staff.
Sincerely
Chris Meares 0414 770 703