Sydney's property market is a bit like the porridges of the three bears in Goldilocks - too hot or too cold and, for some, just right

Jonathan ChancellorAugust 12, 2013

Red hot, white hot… a 83.8% weekend Sydney auction clearance rate is hot of which ever description one wishes.

But beware its mostly in the middle class and aspirational suburbs. Certainly not at the top end or bottom end suburbs. 

Indeed the Sydney property market is a bit like the porridges of the three bears in Goldilocks. Too hot or too cold and for some just right.

It's often assumed the auction market is representative of the whole Sydney market. But the auction market is quite a different to the the marketplace that utilises the private treaty method.

This is not to say that auction results - both individual and regional - are not clear pointers of market strength and price direction.

The auction market is always pricier than the regular market because of the type of home that suit auction and also the ensueing comeptitive edge that the auctions engender.

Saturday's median house price was $896,000 compared to the $694,000 APM median house price. Ditto units which on the weekend sat at $640,000 when the overall median unit price across Sydney sits at $491,000. 

And most of the hottest weekend auction locations were in a nice band of medians mostly between $728,000 and $1.2 million.  The remander where Surry Hills, $950,000 median house price, where all six offerings were sold. Then there was Leichhardt, $829,000; Balmain $1.13 million, Epping $937,000, Croydon Park $728,000;  Marrickville $790,000; Croydon $860,000; Ashfield $833,000; Burwood $1.2 million.

The weekend's most affordable property was a two-bedroom house at 38 Diamond Head Drive, Budgewoi, sold by George Brand Real Estate Toukley for $275,000.

It was $35,000 less than its 2010 sale – which highlights the trend we see almost every week of weakness at the lower end of the market.

Investors have the field almost to themselves given first time buyers are awol after the state government grant for established homes was stopped.

At the top end the merchant banker and financial services buyer have never really returned with their pre-gfc buying gusto.

It's more likely to be those in medicine or the law or accountancy as the buyers.

Data from Australian Property Monitors shows that 40% fewer homes selling in the $4 million to $6 million price range in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2010 when the market was enjoying a fillip.

APM's senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson says the absence of new-money buyer in Sydney highlights missing prosperity which keeps the Sydney market at three-quarter pace at the moment.

The top four suburbs with highest number of $4 million to $6 million sales in the six months to June 30, 2013:

1. Mosman (19 sales)   22 sales in the 2010 fillip

2. Vaucluse (9)              14 sales during the 2010 fillip

3. Bellevue Hill (6)       15 sales during the 2010 fillip

4. Woollahra (5)             5 sales during the 2010 fillip

All up sales of $4 million to $6 million sales in Sydney, in six months to June 30, 2010: 187 compared to in six months to July 30, 2013: 111

Source: APM

Little wonder why Bellevue Hill's Addenbrooke is attracting so much attention as the inland spring trophy home listing.

It's being listed through Sydney Sotheby's International Realty agent Michael Pallier.

Property Observer gathers it's set to come with $33 million hopes by the downsizing vendors, Denis and Charlotte O'Neil.

There's also a vacant adjacent grassed block of land available for any buyer.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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