The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the Australian property market.
It caused the housing boom no-one saw coming.
So what was it like to work in the real estate industry during this period of unprecedented national growth?
Brisbane auctioneer Justin Nickerson talked of a crazy time when selling property required "no real skill".
"Anyone could have sold property last year," he said.
"They were fun days, but we knew they were never going to last."
Pandemic with 'opposite' effect
Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive officer Antonia Mercorella said there were "plenty of analysts and economists who were predicting the market would drop 20 to 30 per cent" at the onset of the pandemic.
"The exact opposite happened," she said.
"It made for an incredibly busy time for real estate professionals and keeping up with demand was difficult."
The Queensland capital alone experienced its strongest growth in 30 years.
Prices escalate overnight
The COVID-19 housing boom was fuelled by unique factors.
Many people took advantage of low interest rates and the extra financial support coming from government stimulus packages designed to buoy the economy at a time of mass job furloughs and business collapses.
The boom was also nationwide, which was quite an unusual occurrence.
"Generally capital cities and regional areas are at different stages on the property cycle clock," Brisbane real estate agent Stuart McCrea said.
"During the boom, the whole country was stuck at 12 — I haven't seen that before."
Mr McCrea clearly remembered the first open home that made him realise something was happening with the market.
"It was October 2020, and there was a crowd outside the door and down the street," he said.
"Usually an open home takes half an hour; this one took me two hours to get everyone's details."
And that was just the beginning.
"I had several examples of clients selling their homes and telling me they were not turning up to work on Monday. They had made so much money on the sale they could retire early," Mr McCrea said.
"If I sold a house and settlement was 30 to 60 days, I could often get more money for the property before it even settled.
"I could say to the new owner, 'Do you want to sell it again and make $150,000?'.
"The market was just moving so quickly."
Frantic auction scenes
A common feature of any housing boom is high auction clearance rates.
"Most Saturdays I was doing 18 auctions a day. That's roughly one every half hour," Mr Nickerson said.
He facilitated many memorable sales but one that stuck out was a property that sold the same day Brisbane was announced as host of the 2032 Olympics.
"There was an extra buzz in the air," he said.
"The home got launched as a private treaty but there was so much interest after the first open home, the sellers decided to go to auction.
"We had an opening bid that came in miles and miles ahead of the 14 other offers.
"Effectively the property sold in three minutes."
Agents 'hoping it would end'
Mr McCrea said everyone buying property in that period knew they were "paying too much but if they didn't someone else would".
"I remember people buying properties that broke street records but within six months that price looked like a bargain," he said.
Record levels of interstate migration also helped fuel prices in south-east Queensland.
"There was a real fear of missing out," Ms Mercorella said.
"Not only were prices escalating, but we also started to see concerning behaviour.
"People were making unconditional offers that were well above their budget."
Mr McCrea was always conscious the market would eventually start to cool.
"I was actually hoping it would end," he said.
"It was like being on a holiday. You know you've got to get home eventually."
Shift signalled end of boom
There was one open home in February this year that marked the start of the market cool-down, Mr McCrea recalled.
"As I pulled up to the home, I actually thought I had the wrong time because there weren't any people waiting for me," he said.
"There was a shift where people stopped thinking prices would just keep rising."
Just a few months later in May, the Reserve Bank announced its first interest rate rise in more than 11 years.
Seven more have followed.
Ms Mercorella said it remained a "good, healthy market but no doubt agents have got to work harder".
Mr Nickerson welcomed the challenge.
"What has come back now is the need for a real skill set and this is satisfying," he said.
