Inner Sydney - A lot more asking prices

Has anyone else noticed that even in the inner west and east there are a lot more properties online with an asking price rather than auction/price guide?

What's your opinion of what is currently happening in these markets?

My 2 cents is that the beginning of this year has been quite strong but the buyers are starting to thin out and we will see more softening as the year goes on. In particular the Inner West has slowed dramatically and prices being achieved are already 10% below the frothy peak.

 

Might just be the underquoting laws that kicked in from 1st Jan

• clearer rules for agents. A key requirement is that agents must not give consumers understated or vague property prices (eg. promoting a property price as ‘offers above $450,000’)

Underquoting reforms - NSW Fair Trading

I think this means "price guides" are effectively outlawed, or at least discouraged?

 

No, it is that they are not going to auction, or have already been to auction.
They have a "For Sale" price.

Also price guides are not outlawed they just have to have a maximum variance of 10% and must be in line with what is on the Vendor agreement with the RE agent. In my mind this hasn't changed anything and in my markets the final sale price is usually around 10% higher than the top end of the price guides. So under quoting is still rife.

 

But I think the days of listing something at 600k and selling around 800k are pretty much over. Bad for me as a seller (of 2 properties!) but good for the buyers.

 

Maybe, but listing something with a guide of $1.3m - $1.45m and selling for $1.6m are not, standard practice. Or it is posed as "buyer feed back".
All you have to do is agree to put a lower amount on the vendor agreement. Doesn't mean you have to sell for that, just enables the agent to market at that price. Then "throughout the campaign buyer feed back prompted us to post a reserve of $xx"

 

Sure. It's the end of a boom cycle.

 

The figure on the agency agreement isn't the reserve price

 

Exactly.

Yep, even though the clearance rate is holding up, things have changed. And the market will continue to soften.
I was surprised at how strong it was in Feb and was starting to wonder if the low IR environment and strong local economy was going to kick it along for a bit longer in the Inner city, but now I don't think so.

 

Don't know where you are looking, but on the Balmain peninsula even out to Lilyfield things are still ticking along very nicely

Went to 5 auctions last weekend and all sold under the hammer, a few for prices that even surprised the agents. Usual large crowds, multiple strong bids etc.

 

I'd say Balmain is bulletproof.

 

@Simon L - You look for a place around Balmain?

 

@neK Keeping a close eye on the area for PPOR potential

Quite an odd market where comparably similar properties can have huge variations in prices - land of very emotional (and cashed up) buyers!

 

This sold in 2014 for $710K

$80K Reno

Price Guide $920K-$1 million

Reserve $995K

Sold today for $1,030,000

Just over the top of the price guide. Knowing the area, there is no way the sale price would have had a 9 in front of it.

 

I have noticed too that there are more properties in the inner west for sale whereas previously they were all going to auction.

Whilst the market may be softening I don't think it has fully hit the inner west yet. A property in my street went for auction recently with a price guide of $1.7m-$1.8m, I thought it would go for about $2m-$2.1m so was surprised by the low guide price. It ended up selling for just over $2.1m. There are other more superior properties on the market in same area at present with a lower For Sale price so I can't quite figure that out.

 

Prices are going down in apartments in Inner City.
I notice that this time last year I could of sold mine for about 50k more than I can ask now .

 

@Simon L you found anything yet? Be curious to know what you're looking for as it's pretty hot out there still Balmain, Drummoyne, inner inner west of Annandale/Glebe, all of Abbotsford/Five Dock peninsula land very tough for entry level and FHBs. We've missed out on several properties for buyer clients this year but especially in the last 3 mths. Stock VERY tight and not looking to change anytime soon. Better value over the Gladesville bridge in some pockets but still healthy competition for anything sub $1.5m freestanding/semi/low-rise roomy strata etc.
Keep us posted and good luck!

 

Yep. If prices in Balmain ever drop, it's the end of the world as we know it.

 

agreed, inner west of the areas you have stated still seem in high demand from my research too. of the few that come up dont sit on the market for long.
1 hill street 5Dock has just sold prior to auction.

 

Terrace/Townhouse/Villa/Semi, 3,2,1 (preferably 3,2,2) from Lilyfield to Birchgrove. I've increased my budget but I reckon people with deep pockets are still finding it tough! ....I suspect any part of Sydney that's still heated right now are hanging onto the last thread which is interest rates....could be years away but I am not in any hurry....although I do not expect any kind of dramatic fall in the inner west when rates do go up, it would be a good time to sniff out some desperate sellers.....I sense that many people who are bidding and buying nowadays are truly giving it their all....otherwise people in Sydney just have too much money
I hope the area won't lose its charm as it starts pricing out demographics that give it the vibe people are after in the first place!

 

Unless there's some negative like traffic or aircraft noise, I don't see demand ever waning in these areas. Blue chip....