The ban on open houses and on-site auctions has been lifted across the state and local agents are predicting sales will bounce back.

That’s not to say the market has been all that bad, says Peter Fisher Real Estate Director Hunter Ridley.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer houses may have been coming to market, but those that have are still attracting interest from buyers.

“We are coming off a very, very strong year, so it is not like we are going from a soft market into a bad market, we are going from a really strong market into something where the activity is a bit more like what it used to be… I’d like to see a bit more activity, but it is certainly not a bad market at all,” said Hunter.

“The people who are looking are serious and most of them have got their finance organised. Year on year it is definitely down from last year in terms of activity, but if you look at the values at the moment compared to a year ago the values are probably still up.”

Domain recently named Orange as the third most searched for property market outside of Sydney, behind the coastal centres of Port Macquarie and Newcastle.

Hunter said it makes sense that Orange is in demand as our city has great facilities, great schools, a strong health sector and ever-growing tourism appeal.

“People can see that Orange is a really strong regional centre and the basics here are still very, very good. Yes, the hospitality industry has pretty much shut down, but it will go very strongly when the travel restrictions are relaxed and Orange is going to really bounce back— not just real estate but other industries will grow as well, quite quickly,” said Hunter.

And given the large number of people who have discovered they can work remotely through this crisis, it is quite possible we may see an increase in people departing the city looking for a better lifestyle.

“I really feel there will be a lot more tree changers coming this way,” said Hunter. “There are so many people who have had a lot more time to contemplate the rest of their life and what they are going to do for the rest of their life. You only need a very small percentage of those people living in Sydney to decide they want to come this side of the mountains… So, I think places like Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga, and up and down the coast especially, they'll all actually benefit real estate wise from what is happening at the moment. I definitely think that is going to be a big factor.”