Redfern is finished. Paddington is back. That’s often the crux of Sydney property banter. It spreads through restaurants and beer gardens each Sunday quicker than you can say “clearance rates drop”.

And that’s often all it takes – the cursory glance at clearance rates. But this data can be an overreaching generalisation. It’s not real life.

The Sydney property market is one of those anomalies where sometimes, the more people surveyed, the less reliable the statistics. Unfortunately our usual measurements create hypotheses that one suburb is popular and the other is not, or one region is better than another. Or worse: the big downturn is here.

Even our own data does this. At BresicWhitney, Paddington has been floating on recent clearance rates of close to 100%. Meanwhile, Redfern has seen plenty of weekends teetering around 75%.

You heard it here: ‘Redfern is gloom, Paddo is boom’. Right?

No. Sydney is more intricate than that. In a region where the property market is a dinner-table conversation, buyers are instinctive in recognising value. They’re in tune with different segments of the market and what they have to offer.

Wide-reaching clearance rates are the easiest way to explain the state of Sydney property. But isn’t the ‘mood’ better explained by simply listening to the people.

Remember that it’s people who drive this market. They act when they see value. And they pull back when they don’t.

There are plenty more anomalies beneath the wider market data.

The low end dies first

They say to watch the bottom end of the market for telltale signs of a slowdown. As Sydney reported 79% clearance rates last month, inner-city one-bedroom apartments saw a 100% success rate at BresicWhitney.

Performing better than anything else throughout April, we also auctioned more one-bed apartments than ever before. With a surge of stock came a new wave of bidders.

From Pyrmont to Camperdown to Redfern it was hot. D602/26 Point Street, Pyrmont, sold for $690,000 after 49 inspections. 1/56 Church Street, Camperdown went for $600,000 with 48 inspections. And 12/1 Regent Place, Redfern sold for $550,000 with 52 inspections. That’s a whole lot of foot traffic for the price point.

Luxury fades

Those who don’t believe the low-end indicators often have their eye on more blue-chip markets. However, we’re still seeing palpable strength in the $2m to $3.5m bracket. Last month, 25% of BresicWhitney auctions fell into this price range.

The supply was lapped up with a 95% auction clearance rate across the bracket including some notable sales. The highest auction price for the month was a home on a development site in Denistone East at $2.91 million. The biggest pre-auction result was $3.25 million at 4a Boronia Street, Redfern.

Same space, different pace

Again in Paddington, terraces of around $2 million experience varying demand based on perceived value from customers. 26 Napier Street and 118 Boundary Street Paddington struggled to attract early buyer interest, both selling in the late stages of their campaigns. Meanwhile, 25 Hoddle Street and 143 Sutherland Street sold quickly, off-market and prior to auction respectively.

Even in the same suburb, position is having a lot to do with value perception.

Crunching the numbers

Even across a wider area, the numbers skew again when looking at different price points. Our Inner West house market was one example where homes over $2 million enjoyed a 97% success rate for the month. Meanwhile, homes below $1 million in the same areas performed more slowly, around 77%.

A view you can’t buy

You can form your own view of the market looking at the value, trends and people that drive performance. Prices and expectations are related to geographies and the mood of the people who live there.

In uncertain markets, plenty of people sit on their hands. Then when they see something that represents value for them, they find it humanly impossible not to act.

It’s not in our nature.