House hunters battle with up to 300 other buyers in parts of Sydney

Home buyer demand has shot through the roof in Sydney while listings plummeted, creating boom-like market conditions. See the suburbs where buyer competition is most severe.

Home seekers have been competing for Sydney properties against up to 300 other prospective buyers amid an earlier than expected recovery in the housing market.

The increased competition has followed a nearly 40 per cent drop in new listings over the past year coupled with surging demand fuelled by new first homebuyer incentives and rising migration.

Housing experts revealed the “initial shock” of interest rate hikes has also subsided and many couples with plans to buy are finally jumping into the market after sitting on the fence for much of last year.

Competition has been most severe in lower priced suburbs where buyers can access government incentives such as the First Home Buyer Choice package.

The scheme, available for purchases below $1.5m, allows first-time buyers to pay yearly land tax rather than a lump sum stamp duty payment – usually a pricey expenditure for new buyers.

Kim Baker, with daughter Hailie, got $200,000 more than she expected for her Chifley home.

Popular suburbs included Razorback in the Picton area southwest of Sydney, nearby Kirkham and Mulgoa, in the Penrith area.

Average house listings in these areas were drawing more than 200 potential buyers – three times higher than the Sydney norm, according to PropTrack analysis of buyer engagement on realestate.com.au.

Demand in Theresa Park in the southwest was even higher, with just over 300 potential buyers on the average listing.

Buyer demand also ramped up in a range of up-market suburbs where there were significant price falls over 2022, including Potts Point, Darling Point, Queens Park and North Manly.

Jessica Giannakakos and partner Peter sold their Earlwood home on Richard Avenue for $870,000 more than they paid in 2014. Picture: Adrian William Real Estate

Increased buyer competition across Sydney as a whole has led to an uplift in prices and instances of sellers pocketing sums hundreds of thousands of dollars above their expectations.

Many of these sellers, accustomed to the dour sales results recorded last year, had been apprehensive about their decisions to sell and the higher than expected prices often came as a surprise.

Among the sellers puzzled at recent prices was Chifley resident Kim Baker, who said she was in disbelief when her family home sold for $2.64m at auction in mid-March.

The price was $200,000 above her reserve based on comparable sales over previous months.

Ms Baker said she had been anxious about the sale for weeks and couldn’t bear to watch the auction, fearing there would be no bids.

Bidders at the Earlwood auction. Picture: Adrian William

“I was amazed once (the bidding) went over reserve. We were just overjoyed,” she said. “It was a surreal experience filled with emotions.”

Her agent, Ray White Touma Group director Roger Wardy, said “very little” was for sale in the area and buyers were realising they had to dig deep into their pockets for the few that were available.

Jessica Giannakakos and partner Peter took their Earlwood home to auction in March and said they were “taken by surprise” when 10 buyers registered to bid and the hammer dropped at $1.87m. It was $870,000 above what they paid for the Richard Ave home in 2014.

“We would have been happy with $1.6m,” Peter said. “We couldn’t believe it. When the hammer dropped we jumped up in joy.”

A crowd of bidders was seen at the auction for a home Schumack St in North Ryde last week. Picture: Julian Andrews

Selling agent Adrian Tsavalas, director of agency Adrian William, said Sydney’s housing market had “recovered from the Covid hangover”.

“There was a boom during lockdown but the air went out of sales immediately once people could go to restaurants and all that again. Then there was the big shock from interest rate hikes and cost of living pressures. It took a long time for people to readjust,” he said.

“Flick to 2023 and numbers at open homes have tripled since about September and that’s translated into more bidders at auctions.”

MOST COMPETITIVE SUBURBS

Houses

Suburb	Potential buyers per listing
1	Theresa Park	301
2	Mount Kembla	264
3	Toowoon Bay	260
4	Kirkham	257
5	Potts Point	251
6	Brookvale	243
7	Razorback	232
8	Darling Point	226
9	Putty	222
10	Kangaroo Point	218

Units

Suburb	Potential buyers per listing
1	Bulli	214
2	West Pennant Hills	186
3	Barangaroo	154
4	Queens Park	145
5	Denistone	144
6	North Manly	142
7	Lilyfield	140
8	Huntleys Cove	139
9	Sylvania Waters	139
10	Balmain East	136

Source: PropTrack

Originally published as House hunters battle with up to 300 other buyers in parts of Sydney