PROPERTY PRICES SURGING FORWARD IN UNPRECEDENTED MARKET

To say we’re in the midst of a sellers’ market at the moment is an understatement. REA data indicates stock levels are down 35-40 percent which is driving fierce competition among buyers and pushing prices sky-high. In our view, property prices have increased by at least 10 percent since October and certain properties have seen growth as high as 15 percent.

The scant properties coming online are from investors cashing in on the buoyant conditions, new developments which are a very small portion of the market and those who’ve just purchased and are on the move.

Property prices are increasing weekly as extraordinary conditions steer the market, taking us into a realm that Sydney hasn’t experienced before. Many buyers have enhanced budgets thanks to restricted travel and socialising opportunities, with our historically low interest rates making access to money cheaper than ever. Throw into the mix a desire for space for those working from home and a renewed focus on living environments courtesy of the pandemic and it’s easy to see why we’re experiencing heated auctions and pre-auction negotiations.

60 Service Avenue Ashfield

Peter Gordon and Ralph Daher sold a potential-packed character bungalow at 60 Service Avenue, Ashfield, achieving a colossal $600,000 above the reserve. Peter comments, “Normally we’d be surprised by such an outcome however such results are becoming more frequent in this climate.”

2-4 Phoebe Street Balmain

Notably we’re experiencing unprecedented interest for high-end real estate, with the highest level of buyers with budgets of up to $20m we’ve ever recorded. Matt Hayson and Rita Lopresti just sold 2-4 Phoebe Street, Balmain, which set a new non-waterfront Balmain suburb record by well over $1m. This exceptional residence was unique for the area and showcased one of the finest renovations we’ve ever had the pleasure of bringing to the market. A total of 22 contracts were issued to interested parties both locally as well as from a variety of locations including the Eastern Suburbs, the Lower North Shore, New York, Dallas, London and Singapore. However, ultimately it was an Inner West buyer who won out.

The campaign statistics were quite staggering:

• Over 1m online impressions across domain.com.au and realestate.com.au
• Over 400,000 impressions across our social media re-targeting platform
• Over 8,000 views of the related news article on our site
• Editorial pieces in Title Deeds and Domain Prestige
• 982 email enquiries
• 653 calls
• 142 inspections which were conducted privately

The question now is how long will this market last? While we don’t have a crystal ball, we do believe that an unsustainable pace is being set right now and it’s fairly likely that APRA will have to step in to restrain the speed of price growth. If you’re keen to see what opportunities lie ahead for you given current market conditions and future prospects, we’d be only too happy to give you an informed appraisal.

With an increased emphasis to enjoy your lifestyle with the comfort of your home being a centre piece of this mindset, it has created the perfect storm for high octane emotive real estate transactions.

It is this years market that has truly accelerated though and each weekend we are caught off-guard with the level of buyer intensity. Price records are tumbling around our market and not by a small margin either as sellers capitalise on the strongest real estate market in history.

The question has to be asked about how long such conditions can continue?