The signs tell family it’s the right time to sell their house

The sale of the house across the street was the sign Emil and Vicky Rizk had been looking for to list their own property.

Emil and Vicky Rizk with their children Tommy and Angel at home in Kings Langley, Sydney. Picture: Sam Mooy

The sale of the house across the street was the sign Emil and Vicky Rizk had been looking for to list their own property.

“I couldn’t believe the amount of people that went to the first open home,” said Ms Rizk. “There was a line out the door and around the corner.”

The couple had become keen market watchers after failing to sell their Kings Langley home in Sydney’s northwest two years ago, just after the market peaked. But a slew of sales in the area and rising prices has them confident.

Ray White Castle Hill agent Kael Sharp is looking for bids of about $1.2m when the Rizks’ home goes to auction on Jan­uary 22.

The timing puts the hoped sale date ahead of the traditional post-Australia Day market revival, with Mr Sharp one of many agents nationwide looking to capit­alise on heightened demand.

Their spirits have also been boosted by the fact Australia’s housing market has recorded its best quarter of growth in 10 years.

But while 2019 was a year of records — including the fastest national trough-to-peak recovery ever — more people putting their homes on the market may contain price growth in the months ahead, property researcher CoreLogic warned.

New figures from the researcher revealed prices rose 4 per cent nationally through the fourth quarter of 2019, spurred by easier lending conditions and three Reserve Bank interes­t rate cuts to a record low 0.75 per cent.

CoreLogic said the December quarter gain was the most significant since November 2009, ­making the national price resurgen­ce through the second half of 2019 the fastest on record.

Sydney was the biggest bene­ficiary over the quarter, with a 6.2 per cent rise in values. Homes in Melbourne mirrored that, with values climbing 6.1 per cent.

However, the 1.1 per cent rate of national growth during Dec­ember was the weakest of the quarter, following rises of 1.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent in October and November respectively.

This market momentum was unlikely to continue, said CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless. “The December result would suggest the pace of capital gains may have been dampened by higher advertised stock levels or worsening affordability pressures through early summer,” he said.