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Some 500 Sydney properties went up for auction last Saturday and an auction clearance rates of 59% was achieved – a result that amazed even me. With first-home buyer incentives, very little stock on the market and interest rates now steady, everyone is feeling comfortable to trade in this marketplace. With the Australian dollar hitting lows of 97 cents this week, the expatriates have been back on the phone looking for a bargain. Our buyer’s agents have been busy purchasing everything from substantial homes in Lindfield, Northbridge, Greenwich and Mosman to penthouse beach apartments in North Curl Curl and two-bedroom apartments in Cremorne. We are finding that vendors are now meeting the market because they want to buy before Christmas, and most people are opting to sell before they buy. I have had PK Property coming up to 15 years now and since introducing the whole buyer’s agents concept to Sydney, I have never seen a market where our buyer’s agents are saving our clients more money than ever before. The selling agents seem to be a little nervous and not confident enough to push for a higher price as they normally would, because they simply just don’t have enough competition on the table. There’s no doubt I can feel a change in the air happening at present because it’s all about stock levels and some vendors are just choosing not to list their properties for sale, creating a higher demand from buyers and therefore pushing prices up. BIS Shrapnel, probably the most respected forecaster in the property space, has come out this week saying Sydney prices will move a bullish 6% over the next 12 months and I must admit I am yet to see the company wrong over the 15 years I have had my business. I think the only thing that will upset growth like that will be a hike in interest rates, but NAB came out last week saying it doesn’t expect a rate hike until November 2011 and cuts could even occur.
The higher end has been performing a little bit better over the last six weeks, with many people opting to upgrade. I recently purchased a property in Mosman for just over $5.75 million when it had an asking price of around $6.4 million. I think the higher end of the market will still struggle next year but the market from $2 million to $3.5 million will start to gain some momentum. We also purchased a substantial family home in Northbridge last week from L.J. Hooker Northbridge that had an asking price of $2.3 million but after long negotiations got it for $1.95 million. October 16th is when it all starts up again after the school holidays but I am hearing that in certain areas the stock is still thin on the ground and if you don’t find anything before Christmas you will have to start your house hunting end of February next year.
Peter Kelaher is managing director of <a target="_blank" title="PK Property Search" href="https://pkproperty.com.au/">PK Property Search and Negotiators</a>.
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Peter Kelaher

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