Sydney property market spring 2019: Low listings, more buyers and higher prices bodes well for sellers
Sellers are on top this spring with low listing numbers and rising buyer activity and higher prices anticipated, CoreLogic research chief Tim Lawless says. Plus, Marrickville unit fetches more than expected and Dan MacPherson buys his first home.
NSW
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Low listing numbers and rising buyer activity would play into Sydney sellers’ hands, with higher prices anticipated this spring, according to CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless.
Spring private treaty listings are down 22 per cent compared with the same time last year, sitting at 22,000 houses and units for sale.
With just the 188 weekend vendors, auctions listings were 26 per cent off the same Labour Day long weekend last year.
The CoreLogic research show 5600 homes were freshly listed in Sydney last month, but this was 17 per cent fewer than in September 2018.
Median property values in Sydney increased 1.7 per cent last month to $805,000.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe recently pinpointed the low turnover as constraining the economy’s recovery.
“As housing prices have fallen, there has been a marked decline in housing turnover, with the turnover rate having declined to the lowest level in more than 20 years,” Dr Lowe said.
“With fewer of us moving homes, spending on new furniture and household appliances has been quite soft.
“So too has expenditure on moving costs and real estate fees. More broadly, the correction in the housing market has also affected the economy through its impact on residential construction activity.”
Increased borrowing capacity through relaxed serviceability rules, aided by falling interest rates including a cut last week, had encouraged more property buyers into the market, Corelogic’s Mr Lawless suggests.
“The expectation that they will move lower — along with better affordability — are factors contributing to the rebound,” he said.
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As prices recover, Mr Lawless expects a seasonal rise in listing to gather pace.
Any continued lack of stock would bring a renewed sense of “fear of missing out” supporting further price growth, he forecasts.
“Credit availability remains the wildcard in a material bounce-back in turnover … as gaining loan approval remains a challenge for many borrowers, despite the lowest mortgage rates since the 1950s,” Mr Lawless said.
The current performance of the Sydney housing market was varying from region to region, but also across the different product types and value ranges, according to Mr Lawless.
“In Sydney it’s clearly the prestige end of the market that is driving the strongest capital gains, with values up 4.2 per cent over the September quarter,” he noted.
“This was also the sector that recorded the largest decline during the down phase, with Sydney’s top quartile properties remaining 13 per cent below their previous peak.
“During the downturn the middle- to lower-priced segments of the market were more resilient to falls than the top end.”
Sydney has had two sales at $38 million or above in the past month, with one of those in Rose Bay and another in Point Piper.
UNIT SALE GIVES HOME RENO A BOOST
Jessica and Ricky Germain hoped they might pocket $450,000 for their Marrickville apartment, where they lived before the arrival of Elodie, 2, and Remy, seven months.
The Ewart St unit has just fetched $550,000 through McGrath agent Adrian Tsavalas.
They had bought the first-floor 1960s unit at $232,500 in 2009, taking advantage of the first-homebuyer’s grant.
The apartment was rented in 2016 at $430-a-week and more recently at $440-a-week.
Improved market conditions prompted coffee salesman Ricky and HR worker Jessica to feel confident about the listing.
“Things have picked up … so it’s not such a gamble to sell your property,” Mr Germain said before the snappy sale. “We lived there for a few years through the boom and the family started growing.” They have sold to renovate their family home.
BARGAIN IN A BUSY BELMORE
Not only was Belmore the busiest weekend auction hotspot, but it had the cheapest sale. A two-bedroom 1970s apartment was snapped up pre-auction for $465,000.
Peter Georgiou from Raine & Horne said it was sold to a first-homebuyer from Croydon.
The 60 sqm ground floor unit with covered car space on St Clair St had previously sold for $120,000 in 1997 and $108,000 five years earlier. CoreLogic calculate there are around 1400 two-bedroom, one-bathroom units in Belmore with the 27 sales this year ranging between $417,000 on Burwood Rd to $520,000 on Etela St.
The weekend’s second cheapest sale was at Wentworth Point at $490,000.
The one-bedroom offering in the Paros complex had a price guide of $480,000, having last sold at $360,000 in 2009.
The third cheapest sale was a one-bedroom 1960s unit at $506,000 in Redfern which had sold at $254,000 in 2003. It had been a $385-a-week rental.
DAN MacPHERSON BUYS HIS FIRST HOME
Actor Dan MacPherson retains his first home purchase, a one-bedroom Cronulla investment unit.
The Gerrale St address, 100m from the sand, cost $295,000 in 2002, about the time he left Neighbours for overseas stardom.
The actor recently secured tenants, having sought $500 per week.
MacPherson has been renting in Bondi with his wife, fellow actor Zoe Ventoura. He also owns property at Sunshine Beach, Queensland which cost him $2.15 million in 2010.
WARRAWEE SNATCHES TOP AUCTION PRICE AGAIN
Sydney’s top home auction sale was at Warrawee, for a second weekend in a row.
A five-bedroom, two storey house fetched $4,525,000.
The Hastings Rd Federation home was renovated by architect Harvey Little in the late 1980s. Set on 1400 sqm, the home came with a swimming pool and a tennis court.
The downsizing vendors had bought it in 1996 for $1.39 million.
McGrath selling agent Alex Mintorn had six registered bidders, with the buyers being a young family who will move from Waitara.
There were seven bidders for the five-bedroom Cherry St, Warrawee, offering on the prior weekend.
It fetched $5.35 million to rank at 21 in sales above $5 million in the upper north shore suburb — where a record $11.5 million was paid in 2010. It resold last year at $11 million.
HOT SALE FOR TOWNHOUSE IN BAKERY ROW
A home within The Bakery row of Marrickville townhouses that won a 2016 UDIA Design Excellence Award attracted strong weekend interest.
There were five registered bidders when the 2014-built house fetched $2,010,000.
Ray White agent Ercan Ersan said it sold to a local couple who had been cashed up and renting in preparation for securing a newish home.
The four-bedroom home, with built-in study nook, on its 180 sqm Holmesdale St block was the work of Benson McCormack Architects.
The initial price guide had been a cautious $1.7 million for the offering that attracted an $1.8 million opening bid.
The vendors, who had paid $1,405,000 in 2014, are off to the Northern Beaches. There had been a $1,875,000 sale of another townhouse in the row of five in March and a $1.95 million sale in boomtime 2017.
Marrickville’s four-bedroom property median price is $1.63 million according to realestate.com.au, based on 24 sales in the past year.