MONTHLY MARKET WRAP – APRIL 2018
April was a divided month for the property market, following Easter which rolled straight into school holidays and Anzac Day.
Traditionally during holiday periods we tend to see the number of active buyers at open homes decline a little as families have less time to focus their attention on buying. On April 14, Sydney posted the weakest auction clearance rate for 2018 of 59%. It’s possible that the holiday period contributed to this outcome however we are also continuing to see a general level of caution among buyers. Many conversations with them revolve around tighter lending policy, for example, if you could borrow $1m a year ago that amount may be down to $600-$700K now. Enforced by the prudential regulator APRA, these policies are clearly impacting the number of buyers interested per property and competition at auctions.
However, we are continuing to see some marquee sales and while there may be fewer interested parties, the ultimate prices achieved are more than respectable in our opinion. We have previously suggested in our reports that our core market has only declined by about 5% since the peak in March 2017 and that remains evident with ongoing sales results. The softening up period appears to have stabilised in recent weeks, buyer confidence has slowly improved and property values are becoming easier to predict.
There is no doubt that anyone selling over the past several months has played a role in re-balancing the market, adjusting their expectations and providing improved comfort for potential buyers. During the month we set the highest sale price in Drummoyne for 2018. We also had multiple auction success stories from Surry Hills to Marrickville and maintained a company auction clearance rate in the high 70% region.
We also noted an emerging trend during April which saw areas such as the City, East, Inner West and North Shore consistently post auction clearance rates above the overall Sydney average. In some cases the clearance rate for these regions was 25% higher than the Sydney market. What does this mean? The auction results suggest that as Sydney property has cooled, buying attention and focus has funnelled firmly towards what would be considered blue-chip property. We’ve often said that suburbs in close proximity to the CBD are more resilient in a market downturn and this seems to be playing out right now across Sydney.
We expect to see more property come online during May, however this may be adjusted as we hit the cooler months. We’re also keeping a close watch on the Royal Commission into the banking and financial services industry which may see another round of tightening impact buyers. If you require any additional market information or an informed sale or rental appraisal, please speak to our qualified team.
This month’s signature performers:
8 David Street, Earlwood – Sold $2.05m
122 Juliett Street, Marrickville – $1.9m
26b Marlborough Street, Drummoyne – Undisclosed
80 Cecily Street, Lilyfield – $2.45m
517/13-15 Bayswater Road, Potts Point – $890k