We recently highlighted the Sydney property market’s uncharacteristic low auction volumes, pointing to a scarcity of people committed to selling. But in November, more owners were confident about not only selling, but the auction process, leading to results that reflect the success of the method and readiness of buyers in market to secure homes following 11 months of unstable conditions.

At the same time, the prestige market regained fluidity with 108 sales at BresicWhitney, a large portion of which came in between $4 million and $10 million.

This delivered more than $254 million in total sales for the month.

 

Key results included

14 Louisa Road, Birchgrove – $9.825m

64/10 Etham Street, Darling Point – $7.7m

746 Bourke Street, Redfern – $6.025m

55 Liverpool Street, Paddington – $4.8m

11 Ferdinand Street – Hunters Hill – $4.6m

18 Harney Street, Marrickville – $4.28m

142 Jersey Road, Paddington – $4.22m

The reach of this activity was notable, stretching from the Eastern Suburbs to the Inner West and key peninsulas, as people with more to spend shopped across key Sydney regions offering similar lifestyles.

Noteworthy activity

18 Harney Street, Marrickville – a renovated character residence with separate granny flat and mature, connected gardens – set a new price record for the area. It’s now the second-highest auction result to ever to be achieved in the suburb, and the first house the successful buyer had inspected in Marrickville. With five registrations, bidders were families upgrading from the Eastern Suburbs and Inner West.

14 Louisa Road, Birchgrove was the highest auction result for the Balmain Peninsula this year. With three competing parties, the underbidder was a Darling Point resident introduced by our Paddington team. Our Off-Market Platform also generated two landmark sales in Redfern – proof of the suburb’s continual evolvement and desirability.

 

Looking at prices

The nation’s house prices dropped by just 1 per cent in November, the smallest fall in five months, in an early sign that the housing market may have already moved through its toughest phase, CoreLogic’s home value index shows.

The speed of decline slowed in Sydney to 1.3 per cent, in contrast to the monthly adjustments of 2.3 per cent were evident just three months ago.

It was clear that buyers in November had deepened their understanding of the new interest rate environment and were purchasing with these factors in mind. With more sellers now aligned too, it created an environment that not only engaged onlookers, but drew out committed buyers to drive meaningful competition and results.

BresicWhitney CEO Thomas McGlynn said the green shoots of the stablisiation were there, namely higher clearance rates and volumes of sales.

“To transact on 108 sales and record our strongest month since March tells us we’ve started to see deeper indicators of stability. This will make the environment a lot easier for buyers and sellers to navigate,” Thomas said.

“No one is expecting a booming market or complete turnaround, but a more normalised and stable playing field in which buyers and sellers can both confidently participate does really affect the mood and results achieved.

“If rates start to stabilise next year, confidence is likely to grow even further.”

Investors

In the investment market, potential buyers continued to watch from the sidelines, while record low vacancy rates and tight listing levels persisted.

BresicWhitney Head of Property Management Chantelle Collin said this was putting pressure on prices and pushing rents upwards.

“We’ve just come out of a period of extremely high enquiry from tenants, which has now eased somewhat as we approach the holidays,” Chantelle said.

“Looking at seasonal trends and our outlook for the new year, we would expect the vacancy rates to tighten again. This is a situation that’s likely to be impacted further at the start of the educational semesters when international students return.”

bw.com.au