$750k off price: most discounted Sydney homes revealed

Home seekers are being served up huge discounts on lifestyle properties across Sydney as the property market continues to slow. These are the biggest deals

Homes are being relisted for sale with up to $750,000 slashed off the original list price as Sydney’s once booming housing market continues to cool.

Many of the biggest discounts have come in outer “lifestyle” areas that were popular in the early stages of the Covid pandemic, but where demand has since wound back.

Among the most discounted homes currently on the market included a five-bedroom house in northern beaches enclave Church Point.

The property on Pittwater Rd was listed for $5.25m late last year, but after a prolonged sales campaign, the list price has dropped by $750,000 to $4.5m, according to sales records.

In Mona Vale, a house on Jedda Place listed in April at $2.95m is now $2.475m, a drop of $475,000. There were similar price cuts on properties in nearby Warriewood, Bayview and Avalon Beach.

This Avalon Beach had $450,000 cut off the original list price.

Down south, a Sylvania Waters home on Shoalhaven Rd is up for sale with more than $200,000 slashed off the price, while on Woodlands Rd in Taren Point, a home is for sale with a $250,000 discount.

Apartments in some inner- and middle-ring suburbs were also among the most discounted properties, with smaller units in high-rise complexes more likely to be discounted.

Middle-ring suburbs where units were discounted about 4-5 per cent before selling were Greenacre, Punchbowl and Yagoona, in the Canterbury-Bankstown region, according to PropTrack data.

The discounts typically equated to about $30,000-$70,000 off the list price.

Units in the CBD and nearby Ultimo and Chippendale, along with Auburn, near Parramatta, were also heavily discounted before selling, the research showed.

More than $750,000 was cut off the price of this Church Point home.

These areas tended to have a higher supply of newly constructed apartments at a time when buyers were still favouring houses, which put pressure on sellers to cut their list prices.

It comes as Sydney home prices dropped for the second straight month over May, with pundits pointing to climbing interest rates and “buyer fatigue” as key drivers of the shift in prices.

The average fall over the month was minor at 0.29 per cent, or about $3000, but it was the biggest drop among capital cities.

Drops also came on the back of nearly six months of static movement in prices – suggesting the market was coming off of a peak.

PK Property founder and buyer’s advocate Peter Kelaher said the most discounted homes tended to be properties needing improvements, or those in less accessible city pockets.

Jess Cook and husband Nick said they got a great deal on their Narrabeen home.

“People are too scared to buy something where they will have to do work and pay extra building costs and go through all the trouble of finding a tradie,” he said.

“This wasn’t the case last year. Everything was selling then. People were prepared to renovate and they would buy properties on busy roads or something with a bad floorplan.”

Hallmarq buyer’s agent Rebecca Hall said there was an opportunity for home seekers who were prepared to buy properties needing improvements to get a better price.

“You are going to have to compromise but there’s an opportunity because agents are prepared to negotiate on repair costs,” she said.

“We’re explaining to clients that you can always do the work later when building costs have adjusted. Those who are doing it are getting great bargains.”

This Sans Souci house was $1,899,000 in April and is now $1.5m.

This Mona Vale house was listed in April for $2.95m. The list price is now $2.475m.

This home on Loquat Valley Rd in Bayview was listed in February for $2.45m-$2.695m. The latest price guide is $2m.

Ms Hall said buyers who purchased in areas where there was a larger supply of similar properties were also getting better deals.

Jess Cook and partner Nick recently bought a Narrabeen house for a price below comparable sales in the area and said they benefited from having multiple properties they liked.

“We were able to turn it on the agent,” she said. “We told them we loved the area, we were ready to buy, but there were other properties we were interested in.

“The (agent) knowing we were motivated to buy made a difference. They knew we were on a mission and we’d definitely be buying … in the end, we got a beautiful home.”

Rising living costs may have contributed to buyers’ becoming more selective, Mr Kelaher said.

“Last year’s boom was driven by emotion and rates being really low. There is no way buyers can keep that kind of (spending) up when it’s $2.20 for a litre of petrol, $5 for lettuce and rates are going up.”