AFTER two major elections, changes are already starting to be seen in the Bathurst property market.
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Bathurst Real Estate principal Mick Whittaker said he started to notice increased buyer confidence within days of last month's federal election.
Prior to the election, his agency had noticed a decrease in inquiry, as well as house prices dropping and properties taking longer to sell.
Mr Whittaker said having two elections in such short succession definitely played a part, as did the Royal Commission into Banking.
"There was three things happening very quickly and you tend to find that elections and real estate, they don't mix real well in today's lifestyle," he said.
"I don't know why, but people tend to become a little more reserved and a little more cautious."
But now that the elections are over and banks are starting to loosen their lending criteria, the market is responding.
Mr Whittaker said there was "a renewed enthusiasm and renewed confidence" in Bathurst, which started to be seen the day after the federal election.
He believes more buyers will start to come back into the market, having been turned away as a result of the banking royal commission.
"The statistics that we have received suggested that 50 per cent of people who were applying for a home loan were being knocked back, so that had taken a lot of buyers out of the marketplace," he said.
"If the changes to the lending criteria just bring 10 or 20 per cent more people back into the marketplace, it makes a huge difference for us as agents, but also sellers."
One of the policies that caused concern ahead of the election was the proposed changes to negative gearing by the Labor Party.
Mr Whittaker would like to think that, as the party did not win the election, there will be more investor activity.
"Subtle changes might not have been a major issue, but it was going to be a fairly big overhaul of the investment market, which was potentially going to affect a lot of 'mum and dad' investors," he said.
"The majority of the people we deal with who owner investment properties are single investment property owners and are mums and dads who are just trying to get an extra property to help them towards their retirement.
"I think this will now give people an opportunity to look to add and I think it will also keep rents fairly stable as well."
Looking ahead, Mr Whittaker said that he expects buyer confidence to continue to rise, leading to better outcomes for vendors.