250+ buyers, 1 house: inside NSW’s home buyer hunger games

In some Sydney suburbs there are more than 250 buyers for every home on sale, leading to conditions some have described as home buyer “hunger games”.

Competition for homes in key parts of Sydney has become frenzied with more than 250 buyers battling one another for each house – despite a recent increase in property sales across the wider market.

It follows months of listings shortages, building sector challenges and rising buyer demand, which have created a substantial backlog of buyers trying to get into the market in some areas.

And agents have warned a recent bump in listings across the city as a whole, while moderating most of the market, still may not be enough to ease competition in the most popular suburbs.

The worst hit locations have tended to be the more affordable middle-ring suburbs, according to new PropTrack analysis.

Robert and Clio Ellis, with kids Tristan and Zadie, are selling a unique Newtown home on Camden St. Picture: Adam Yip

These areas were often flush with buyers who had repeatedly missed out on sales during winter and remained eager to get into the market – in many cases, before their pre-approval for loans expired.

It’s created a blink or you’ll miss it sales environment in those areas, with “family-friendly” homes offering more backyard space selling the fastest.

The most extreme imbalance between demand and supply was in the northern beaches hinterland suburb of Brookvale, where there were an average 292 buyers showing interest or inquiring on each house listing, PropTrack noted.

There was a similar supply and demand dynamic in southwestern suburb Kirkham and Harbourside enclaves Darling Point and Woolwich, with about 290 buyers showing interest in each house.

There were more than 200 potential buyers for each unit listing in West Pennant Hills and Lavender Bay and about 180 for neighbouring suburbs Denistone and Dundas Valley.

This Glebe home attracted 360 inquiries with agent: Matthew Carvalho and sold for $1,915,000.

The average Sydney suburb had 93 buyers expressing interest or inquiring on each house and 57 interested in each unit.

PropTrack measured “potential buyers” by the level of “high” engagement on realestate.com.au listings.

Factors used to determine buyers with genuine interest were contact with the agent, email inquiries, link shares and return visits, among other indicators.

It comes as a bump in listings ahead of spring broke a long standing sales deadlock across Greater Sydney, giving home seekers in some areas more choice and a temporary reprieve from rising prices.

But experts warned the rise in listings didn’t occur everywhere and a large backlog of frustrated buyers meant competition was elevated compared to previous years.

This Wollstonecraft home attracted 386 enquiries in two weeks. It was listed with Ty McCartney-Brown.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said the suburbs with the highest number of potential buyers per listing had a shortage of new listings for a prolonged time.

“There’s been such strong demand in many of these areas for years that all the available supply has been soaked up and there aren’t many homes available,” he said.

“In some cases, there’s no evidence things are improving and the few properties that do come up for sale sell quickly because there is so much competition.”

Veteran auctioneer Tom Panos cautioned that buyer demand varied considerably by region – and only a few areas were hotly contested.

“You can drive 10min and the supply and demand curve will be totally different,” he said, adding that demand also varied by property.

“There are lots of bidders on some properties and none on others. The most sought after are turnkey houses where you don’t need to do anything to them. They do much better than fixer uppers.”

There were 290 buyer inquiries in two weeks for this Roseville house. Agent: James Sutton, McGrath.

Mr Panos said not all buyer inquiries translated into price offers. “Some people inquiring will just be doing their due diligence, so that’s worth remembering.”

Adrian Tsavalas, the director of Adrian William Real Estate, said the market as a whole was fairly balanced, but this dynamic didn’t apply to “quality” listings on larger blocks as they were rarely listed.

Buyers vying for these types of homes had often repeatedly missed out auctions and tended to be more aggressive, Mr Tsavalas said.

“You can see it,” he said. “There’s a big difference between how someone bids when it’s their first auction and when it’s their fifth.”

Robert Ellis is currently on the hunt for a new house after listing his current Newtown home on Camden St for sale with agent Kate Ferrante and said he noticed more listings this spring but very few of the type of homes he wanted.

“Nothing really ticks the boxes,” he said.

SYDNEY’S MOST COMPETITIVE SUBURBS

(with number of potential buyers)

Houses

1 Brookvale 292

2 Kirkham 292

3 Darling Point 290

4 Woolwich 287

5 Theresa Park 271

6 Toowoon Bay 270

7 Yarramalong 269

8 Woronora 241

9 Chatswood West 233

10 Narrabeen 226

Units

1 West Pennant Hills 232

2 Lavender Bay 207

3 Denistone 186

4 Dundas Valley 183

5 North Manly 177

6 Gymea Bay 174

7 Gymea 174

8 Birchgrove 164

9 Greystanes 161

10 Balmain East 157

Source: PropTrack