Sydney real estate: top buyer’s markets where prices have yet to boom

Home prices are surging and sellers are calling the shots in most of Sydney’s housing market but there are still areas where buyers have the upper hand. SEE THE TOP BUYER’S MARKETS

Home sellers have largely been calling the shots in Sydney’s booming housing market but there are still pockets of the outer city where buyers have the upper hand.

Listings analysis revealed up to 13 per cent of the local housing in some outer areas was up for sale and the increased choice was taking pressure off of buyers to offer higher prices.

Areas still deemed “buyer’s markets” included suburbs in the outer southwest and northwest, according to the report by Aussie Home Loans and CoreLogic.

Most were suburbs with a high concentration of new housing estates such as Box Hill, about 50km northwest of the CBD, and Camden enclaves Spring Farm and Gledswood Hills in the far southwest.

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Other “buyer’s markets” such as Mays Hill in the Greater Parramatta area had a high supply of newly built units.

The higher supply of available housing in these regions was a reversal of the climate in much of the rest of the city where rampant buyer demand and plummeting listing levels have sent prices skyrocketing.

Ethan Rogers and Angelique Nisbet said they got much better value in the southwest. Picture: Tim Hunter

Listing levels across the Greater Sydney area were at a four-year low in December, while realestate.com.au research showed NSW buyer demand increased 53 per cent annually.

The supply of available properties has been particularly low in the Fairfield region of Western Sydney, which had the bulk of the Harbour City’s top 10 “seller’s markets”, according to the Aussie research.

Suburbs in the region such as St Johns Park, Abbotsbury and Wakeley had less than five listings in December, despite all being heavily populated areas with more than 1000 dwellings.

Aussie Home Loans CEO James Symond said the market favouring sellers overall didn’t mean there “weren’t strong opportunities for thoughtful buyers” in some suburbs.

“The market is tight everywhere, almost across the board, but it is in the Greater Sydney area where there are the best opportunities for buyers,” he said.

Sellers have had the upper hand in most of Sydney in recent months. Picture: David Swift

But My Housing Market economist Andrew Wilson warned the relatively better conditions for buyers in some outer city markets may not last for long.

New housing estates on the city fringe would likely get more popular as property prices increased this year and it could mean buyer competition would intensify, he said.

“It’s a natural progression any time there is a strong market,” Mr Wilson said.

“There’s a real possibility prices could increase in Sydney by a double-digit margin this year and when that happens buyers will begin searching fringe markets where it’s more affordable.”

Mr Wilson pointed to Western Sydney suburb The Ponds as an example of how fringe markets evolved over time.

TOP BUYER’S MARKETS

Source: Aussie Home Loans/CoreLogic

“Areas like Box Hill are similar to how The Ponds was five or six years ago. There was a lot of stock back then, now not much is for sale at all and the prices have shot up.”

First homebuyers Ethan Rogers and Angelique Nisbet, both 26, recently bought a home in new estate Ed Square in Sydney’s southwest and said they got much better value.

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The pair snapped up a courtyard apartment in the Edmondson Park estate with a double garage for $690,000 and have access to a pool.

“We first starting looking in the Shire but everything was old, needed work and was just too expensive,” Mr Rogers said.

First homebuyers Ethan Rogers and Angelique Nisbet had looked in the Sutherland Shire but weren’t happy with what was on offer. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“We’re so glad we moved out here, it’s much more convenient to get to than we thought. We’ve got a backyard space for a price I don’t think we would have got in many other places.”

Originally published as Sydney real estate: top buyer’s markets where prices have yet to boom