Here’s a clue which exposes the worthlessness of big bank forecasts on property prices – they change their forecasts every few months.
At the start of 2023, the banks all issued their predictions about prices in 2023. These were annual forecasts and, in keeping with the mentality of bank economists, their tips were highly negative. They all expected prices to fall this year.
Westpac, at the start of this year, said Sydney house prices would fall 8% in 2023. But here we are just three months later and they’ve changed their mind. Now they’re saying Sydney prices will rise in 2023.
So, what was the value of the Westpac forecast in January? And the answer is: Zero. Completely worthless and pointless. And if someone decided not to buy because they expected prices to fall, they may be a miffed to find Westpac now says that was wrong.
Westpac has “updated” its forecasts for other cities as well. I won’t waste your time describing what those forecasts are – because we know that in 2-3 months, they will “update” their forecasts, again, rendering the previous forecasts worthless, again.