{"id":829303,"date":"2026-07-28T15:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/829303\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T15:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:23:11","slug":"tom-panos-warns-of-domino-effect-from-property-value-falls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/829303\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Panos warns of \u2018domino effect\u2019 from property value falls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two hardworking nurses were left scrambling to make ends meet after buying a new house but unable to sell their previous home in a \u201cbattered\u201d Australian property market.<\/p>\n

Real estate figure Tom Panos said their story represented the \u201cdomino effect in our economy\u201d brought by falling prices and buyer confidence, warning those celebrating the downturn of several \u201cunintended consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a week in which his passionate and viral take on the housing market as being the worst in decades saw him mocked in some quarters, Mr Panos told news.com.au he understood the support for falling prices but said people should be aware of unwanted side effects.<\/p>\n

He shared the case of two married nurses who bought a $2 million property this year, but were now in \u201csurvival mode\u201d and paying off two mortgages as they battled to sell their old place despite dropping the asking price by 20 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"'Survival<\/p>\n

\u201cI am in a mess now because of this budget,\u201d one of them told Mr Panos in a message.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not a greedy investor. Me and wife are hardworking nurses. Really struggling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought (a) new one without selling. That was my mistake. I expected it to be bad. But I did not expect that market will be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Auctioneer Mr Panos told news.com.au that as a father of two daughters in their 20s he understood why \u201ccertain parts of the community that would be celebrating watching house prices go down\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good thing,\u201d he said, but added he was \u201calso very mindful of the unintended consequences that this has caused\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest one being a gridlock in volume,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that just property prices have gone down, it\u2019s that volume has actually collapsed. Anecdotally, we\u2019re looking at volumes that have dropped by 30 to 40 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nation \u2018catches the flu\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr Panos said although Sydney and Melbourne were \u201cthe most battered\u201d markets<\/a>, there were signs of other cities such as Brisbane starting to go south.<\/p>\n

News.com.au reported on Monday Melbourne has been leading the national downturn, with almost one in three homes selling tens of thousands of dollars less than first asked.<\/p>\n

Analysis by property tracker Spachus found 29 per cent of dwellings for sale in the Victorian capital had reduced their original advertised price, outstripping Sydney\u2019s rate of 12 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately when Sydney and Melbourne sneezes the whole country catches the flu,\u201d Mr Panos said.<\/p>\n

Home values across the nation have been hit throughout a year of interest rate hikes and a slowing economy, even before investor tax settings were changed at the May budget.<\/p>\n

News.com.au has reported experts believe prices could go \u201csideways\u201d for the next decade in a country where the majority of people\u2019s wealth was tied up in property<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed household wealth reached $19.2 trillion in March, with property accounting for $12.98 trillion \u2013 or 68 per cent of the total.<\/p>\n

The latest inflation data for the June quarter is due to drop on Wednesday, with HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham saying it was \u201cexpected to confirm that inflation was too high\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Bloxham said economic growth had weakened over the past six weeks, but with inflation well above target the Reserve Bank of Australia faced a \u201ctricky choice\u201d at its next meeting.<\/p>\n

The lingering inflation concerns could pave the way for the cash rate to rise for a fourth time in 2026, a move Mr Panos said would smash the last section of the market still performing \u2013 the lower end. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that will actually be another driver to even less confidence and uncertainty in the market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Businesses and budgets hit<\/p>\n

The senior auctioneer vented on Saturday that it was \u201cworst day\u201d he had experienced in 30 years<\/a> in the industry over the weekend, with zero out of six auctions ending in a sale.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, he rattled off a list of professions that have been directly affected by the cooling market, including agents, mortgage brokers and conveyancers.<\/p>\n

Then there was photographers, videographers, removalists, stylists and tradies who have lost work or even been forced to shut up shop, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve all been impacted, these peoples\u2019 businesses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have (messages) from all these people, and many of them are saying, \u2018We have no choice but to actually close our business\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Panos said another significant fallout from the drop in values and sale volumes was the bottom line for state budgets, which rely heavily on stamp duty revenue.<\/p>\n

The NSW government had previously collected more than $8 billion in stamp duty, according to the Property Council of Australia, but its latest budget has forecast a large drop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe (budget) papers make it clear that the Government now expects to collect $8.4 billion less than it originally forecast from property taxes, like stamp duty and land tax because the property market has slowed,\u201d the Property Council said in a submission this year.<\/p>\n

Mr Panos said he was concerned at what the new figures would be and asked whether the federal government had modelled for the states and territories to experience budget shortfalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I can tell you it\u2019s going to be a very, very big number, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the government originally thought that what that was going to do is bring a strategy in place that meant volume was going to stay the same, or they were going to do is to re channel investors to move from used properties to brand new ones. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why they put the incentives of the new properties, retaining capital gains tax exemptions and the negative gearing. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, that strategy has been rejected by the pundits.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said several \u201cmarkets\u201d have been emerging in Australia in 2026, with the prestige end experiencing falls of 20 per cent and the middle hit hard with a drop of around 10 per cent.<\/p>\n

The lower end had been propped up by first home buyers, some using the federal government\u2019s 5 per cent deposit scheme, and the remaining property investors.<\/p>\n

Mr Panos said the silver lining in the current situation was the opportunity for people already in the market to upgrade to bigger homes, with the gap between each rung growing shorter.<\/p>\n

He believed the upcoming Spring rush could be the \u201cbiggest bonanza buying spree opportunity we\u2019ve seen in many, many years for buyers\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two hardworking nurses were left scrambling to make ends meet after buying a new house but unable 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