NEWS ARCHIVE
Rental Market Review
Within just a few short months, the conditions within the residential rental market have changed considerably. Initially we saw demand for the higher end ‘luxury’ apartments declining from February 09. This however has flowed into the boarder market, with most properties up for rent taking that little bit longer to lease and little opportunity to increase rents from the levels achieved last year. No doubt concerns about the ‘global financial crisis’, pay cuts and recent...
Sales Market Review
April saw another change to the local property market with newly listed homes almost coming to a complete stand still. According to Australian Property Monitors, by April 15 only 22 properties had been listed for sale across Balmain, Rozelle, Lilyfield, Leichhardt and Annandale, which account for approximately 22,000 homes. When economic conditions changed, many market commentators suggested that house prices in Australia will be partially protected from dramatic falls due to an under supply a...
Sales Market Review
The first quarter of the year has flown past with the property market settling into a steady pattern. That is, property transactions under $1m have been carrying the market with softer conditions continuing at the top end. However, we are now starting to see a change as sellers under $1m move to the next price tier, improving transactions in the $1m-$2m price sector. This is a slow process however over time the roll-on effect will eventually reach the rarefied air of properties priced above $2...
Rental Market Review
Figures released by the Real Estate Institute NSW on the 17th March 2009, show the vacancy level of the Inner West at 1.3%, unchanged since November 2008. These figures are a little surprising as our own experiences have shown a definite easing in the market, with substantially larger numbers of property available on our books and generally within the area. Still, any figure below 2% represents a tight rental market and we are still seeing the majority of property being secured within a relati...
Sales Market Review
Following the economic slide of 2008 we now have strong evidence that a genuine challenger is in the ring. The financial crisis has evolved into a 15 round title fight with two combatants unwilling to give up. On one side endless gloomy economic news keeps swinging and in the other corner we now have surging buyer activity with groups of 50 or more attending open home inspections. The fluctuating, if not continuing, decline of the share market and recession-level consumer confidence is then hi...
Rental Market Review
Despite the current economic downturn, the Sydney residential rental market has remained strong and indications are that current demand will allow for modest rent rises this year as a result. Coupled with lower interest rates, conditions for property investors are good as returns increase and by all accounts house prices in the area remain firm. Fundamentally, the shortage of rental accommodation, with little prospect of new investment properties being built in the near future, will underpin t...
Sales Market Review
January shrugged off the 2008 property blues with a virtual explosion of buyers moving through our open homes. Slowly a number of building blocks are falling into place to stabilise the property market and improve buying conditions. The two major components are the reduction in interest rates and in most sectors a reduction in property values which are encouraging increased buyer activity. A low supply of new property being listed for sale in 2009 has also funnelled interest towards a lucky ha...
Rental Market Review
The chronic rental crisis hit hard in early December with desperately low numbers of available rental property on our books. This has eased slightly with a small but steady influx of vacating notices being received from tenants deciding to move in the early New Year. We find this is an annual trend as people use the holiday period to make a move. Still, the outlook is bleak for prospective tenants seeking rental accommodation in the Balmain area, with vacancy rates well below 1%. Demand is...
Sales Market Review
Our final report for 2008 caps off a year of uncertainty which has seen the share market shed 50% of its value and world economies hit hard. Our local property market also suffered with a decline in values over the year, although the rental market remained particularly strong. It has simply been an extraordinary run of events, capturing world economies in the updraft, and where and when we land remains unforeseeable. One thing that does appear clear is that most people are bracing for a diffic...
Rental Market Review
Figures released by REINSW in the last week have shown a marked drop in the number of vacant rental properties. Across all areas of Sydney the vacancy is now no more than 1.1% with the Inner West showing the largest drop, from 1.5% in September to just 1.1% in October 2008. This trend was also experienced by our office during this period as we witnessed again high turnout to most sections of the market throughout October and the first few weeks of November have seen the numbers of vacant proper...