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Newcastle Herald

National

Damon Cronshaw

Pandemic property boom with Zoom

Looking Ahead: Hunter property developer Keith Johnson. Picture: Marina Neil

Hunter property developer Keith Johnson is a people person.

"Everyone is sick of Zoom," he said.

"We still need face-to-face meetings and we need to socialise," he said.

"We're not made to sit at home in front of cameras."

And let's face it, the COVID restrictions in NSW were tough.

Keith labelled them "horrendous".

"I think it's as though we were in a communist country. We're not used to that," Keith said.

He believed the biggest issue was "how people are feeling mentally".

"We certainly never want to see those restrictions again."

Keith is happy that the lockdown is over and "we can move forward".

"I don't judge or say we did it wrong, I just hope people get vaccinated and that we do our best," he said.

He believed people should be "united" and "work together" to manage the pandemic and return to normality as much as possible.

He said people in this country, for the most part, followed the COVID rules and restrictions.

"It showed Australians are very patriotic. They want the best for their country."

McCloy's [Ocean] View

Another prominent Hunter property developer, Jeff McCloy, said there may have been an "overreaction" in some aspects of the pandemic response in Australia, but "if you're in the position of making those decisions, you err on the side of caution".

"I guess I'm trying to say NSW was reasonably managed, Victoria was terribly managed and Western Australia is just a joke," Jeff said.

The former Newcastle lord mayor said Western Australia's response had been "cruel" in not letting people into the state, including not allowing some Western Australians back in.

"The same thing happened in Queensland when they shut out Queenslanders going back home, who couldn't afford to pay for their quarantine," he said.

"If they had a COVID test and didn't have COVID, they should have been allowed back."

Jeff avoided the NSW lockdown, heading to Queensland where he spent plenty of time boating.

"It's probably the longest I've ever been away from business," he said.

Prices Soar

Property prices just keep rising and rising and rising. As people often say, "it's insane".

But then, it does make sense if it's cashed-up folks migrating from the city.

Keith Johnson believed the Hunter property market had boomed because "people want to get out of the city".

"They realise they can work from home and still connect to the city," he said.

One buyer at his Trinity Point development in south-west Lake Macquarie had dramatically changed his lifestyle.

"He used to go to his warehouse every day, now he goes once a month and the business still operates well," he said.

"I think people have been shocked at how well people work unsupervised."

Jeff McCloy believed the Hunter's property market would continue to be strong.

"I think the regions will continue to grow. The unprecedented demand will continue," he said, particularly given the capacity to work from home.

"People are quite wary of high-rise apartments in cities where everyone gets in a lift. And we haven't even started immigration back yet."

The Paperless Office

Could the pandemic bring us closer to the age of the paperless office?

Jeff McCloy said his company hasn't quite got a paperless office, but "we're close to it".

"We used technology as much as we could [during the pandemic]," he said.

Paper, of course, isn't much good when staff work from home. Snail mail doesn't quite cut it in today's business world.

Weird Offspring

Robert J. Heathcote tells Topics that, after 23 years, his cactus produced "these weird offspring, just sticking out of the tall hairy body of the plant". "I was amazed, even as they seem to thrive on neglect. Maybe they will brighten up your page," Robert said.