February Overview - Good sales, a rate cut: steady market remains through the month

We’re well and truly into the thick of transactions for 2025 and experiencing a very active period for the residential sales market. Plenty unfolded in February, including the first rate cut in almost five years. Buyer numbers have remained high across the board as we’ve marketed everything from studios priced at $400,000 to waterfronts north of $10m. While we’ve seen this increased volume of buyers attending inspections, it seems many remain in observation and research mode as the depth of buyers ready to actually make a purchase remains very similar to last year.

We can see this playing out across the auction market, with Sydney’s final clearance rate hovering around 50%. The most revealing part of the auction data is that each week only 20- 25% of scheduled auctions actually sell under the hammer, which is quite noticeable and can only provide two answers – either vendor expectations are too high or there is a lack of competitive tension per listed property. Either way, the revealing element is that a single rate cut has made little change to trading conditions and borrowers will need to see at least two, if not three, more cuts to really kickstart any property price growth.

We’re so pleased to have provided a range of amazing listings across 15 suburbs over the past month. While overall trading conditions remain challenged, there are always a number of sales that stand out. This month, sales at 50 Llewellyn Street, Balmain, 3/339 Victoria Place, Drummoyne, 26 Mort Street, Balmain, 3 Darvall Street, Balmain, 4 Nelson Street, Rozelle, 50 Highland Crescent, Earlwood, 31 The Avenue, Balmain, 8/104 William Street, Five Dock and 9 Jarvie Street, Petersham all delivered stunning outcomes for our clients. We’ve been meeting more than 1,000 buyers each week, so this volume of property ‘lookers’ will ensure there’s a steady stream of evolving purchasers over the coming months. This should provide comfort and confidence for sellers looking to enter the market and there is now good evidence of how buyers are engaging with the market, prices in general and the negotiation process.

Overall, it’s been a reasonable month for Sydney property. It’s definitely an improvement on last year, however there are evident challenges, with the weight of higher living costs still front of mind for anyone looking to make a major financial decision. There is no evidence to suggest this sentiment will change any time soon but if inflation can stay calm, another rate cut will further bolster confidence, and this will improve transactional strength.