On the front lines of the Sydney property scene it’s fast, brutal and ever changing. This year is the perfect example. Our 2017 dinner table conversations have been divisive when they march into state-of-the-market territory. The different interpretations are everywhere. With banks now tightening lending criteria, the uncertainty has been fueled again.

To get some clarity we often ask, ‘who’s buying in?’ But at present, the buyers seem to come from everywhere.

2017 has still proved to be tough for buying in Sydney. There’s no pattern for first-home buyers vs. investors. It’s not baby boomers vs overseas buyers. It’s been one giant free-for-all.

The car park buyers

In Crown Street, Surry Hills, it was the quintessential first-homebuyer apartment. However, the FHBs pulled out before auction and the property went… to car space buyers.

Viewing the morning of the auction, BresicWhitney clients living around the corner snapped up the offering to add parking to their Surry Hills lifestyle. The accompanying apartment is now available to rent, sans parking.

Weekenders

At another recent Saturday auction in it was Baby Boomers who were left feeling the heat of the current market. They watched as this iconic Balmain apartment, popular with downsizers, sold to another Boomer from the North Shore. But this buyer was hunting a weekender.

They wanted a holiday home on the Peninsula and were ready to invest $4 million for the privilege of the ‘staycation’.

Retirees in the city

We sent the photos from 185 Albion Street to a BresicWhitney contact who wasn’t considering buying – we just though he’d find this style of home and architecture interesting on the eye. Not your typical Surry Hills buyer, he ended up buying this property anyway. He’s now selling in Longeville to kick around Surry Hills for his retirement.

Doubling down

Even Sydney’s recent market entrants are now beating first-homebuyers as they get into the market through selling their homes or through equity. Looking to upscale, the buyers of this unrenovated home in Lilyfield were recent sellers following a brief stint in Surry Hills. Fighting against these larger deposits, the first-homebuyers didn’t stand a chance.

Forget the house, they want the neighbourhood

Many first-homebuyers thought they had this one in the bag because the one-bedroom terrace wouldn’t be attractive for investors in terms of potential rent returns.

Expecting a FHB frenzy, everyone was surprised to see it sell to a daring landlord. It may not be the quintessential rental house, but the buyer is banking on this little pocket of Darlo still growing in value.

Unique buying, not headlines

One-bedroom apartment buyers in Chippendale make up another category full of first-homebuyers, and they came in droves to 33/52 Shepherd Street. Only this time the offering came with enough outdoor space to rival some penthouses. We saw 8 registered bidders and the media went mad as the “one-bedroom apartment without parking sold for $910,000”.

However, some of the stats aren’t as headline grabbing. It doubled (and a bit) in value since it sold 9 years ago, which is historically normal. With 53sqm internals the result is huge. But with the additional 60sqm outdoor terrace on title, it’s ‘business as usual’ for the inner city with plenty of buyers seeing uniqueness here.

Your own student housing

We’re increasingly seeing buyers outbid investors on properties to rent them out to fellow family members. This house sold (in December) to buyers looking to accommodate younger family members heading to the nearby university in 2017. It’s true investment-grade buying. But it’s also now serving two purposes for its new family.

Forced into the market

It’s no secret the Sydney rental market is as intense as the buying front lines. We often see tenants forced into the buyers pool after their long-term homes are sold. A couple of renters who felt they didn’t have any other choice snapped up 5/90 Parramatta Road, Stanmore. Another interesting insight: it failed to sell at auction last year. This year, it found 2 ideal buyers to battle it out to $1.29 million.

So at the moment, our turbulent buyer pool is still filled with an assortment of consumers, all with diverse motivations. In the madness of the front lines you never find all the answers. However, it does provide a real-life window in which to form your own view of the market.