The Sydney weekend auction clearance rate was 44.4 per cent from 331 reported results. A total of 733 auctions were scheduled on Saturday, but, of these, 155 were withdrawn from auction sale, typically because not enough buyers had shown interest in the listed homes.
Neutral Bay-based agent Jon Snead, of The Agency, said he viewed the sales scene as a “normal market” in which agents had to work harder and negotiate well.
“People are buying, people are selling,” he said. “The only difference is the price point in some areas – and that is not everywhere at all – and the length of time it takes to sell.”
The most expensive property sold at auction at the weekend was a large contemporary home with views at 12 Carlisle Street, Tamarama, which was transacted through Phillips Pantzer Donnelley.
The property sold for $8.4 million, just shy of the written $8.6 million reserve, after a two-bidder auction that reached $8.399 million before one of the bidders pulled up stumps and the reserve was adjusted down.
Other big-ticket sales included a five-bedroom house with substantive views at 20 Dunois Street, Longueville. The 765-square-metre property sold for $4.885 million through McGrath Lane Cove.
At the other end of the price scale, an entry level, one-bedroom unit at 8/177-179 Glenayr Avenue, Bondi Beach, sold for $442,500 through Raine & Horne Baulkham Hills/Eastwood.
Sydney’s median house price pulled back by 6.5 per cent over the year to September. But, Domain Group data shows it is a patchy and uneven sales landscape, with almost 100 Sydney suburbs recording price gains during this time.
Buyer agent Peter Kelaher, of PK Property Search & Negotiators, said he suspected constant commentary about falling prices was landing on deaf ears.
“You can only give the market so much of a hounding,” he said.
“In general, a lot of property is selling, and it is selling for okay prices.
“But, in the worst cases, it has come off by 20 per cent: out west and down south is a nightmare, and that’s what is bringing the median price down.”
He said there was low motivation among some buyer groups because people thought prices would fall further: “But, this is the best time to buy. You are not going to buy this well in 12 months’ time. I reckon that between now and mid-2019 will be the trough of the market.”
Snead said plenty of people were out and about at open-for-inspections looking to upsize, downsize or invest.
It’s a view of the market shared by numerous agents who say inquiry and inspection activity is little changed from the first half of 2017. What has changed, of course, is ready access to credit and buyer sentiment, which is somewhat less gung-ho than it was 18 months ago.
“It is not that we have an oversupply of properties for a handful of buyers or a multitude of buyers for a handful of properties,” Snead said. “The market is normal: what people have to get their head around is where the price point is for the transaction to take place. Then they have to understand that buying and selling in the same market is critical.”
Domain Group updated last weekend’s clearance rate to just 35.8 per cent following the counting of late-reported results.
The result highlights the continuing opportunities to buy below guide prices, and the “disconnect” between buyers and sellers on how they value properties.
Kelaher said vendors in the northern beaches had to price property competitively to get a sale.
He said apartment demand was subdued in the area, while houses from $1 million to $3 million were performing only fairly.
“The froth has come off the coffee, and we are looking at the coffee,” he said.
article by domain.com.au