I've been in the market for a 2 bedroom apartment in the inner west suburbs for 6 months now. It's been so hard finding something decent at good value. Up until this point I haven't made any compromises and I've withheld from buying a place even though it's the only one on the market, prices are sky rocketing and I need somewhere to live. However in the last month or so things have really changed. All of sudden a lot of apartments are being passed in at auction, reports are coming out that the peak is over and prices are starting to soften (in the apartment sector) and most significantly, whilst there would be only one or two apartments for sale at a time a few months ago now there's six decent 2 bedroom apartments for sale all of which are either the same price or BELOW what people were asking 6 months ago. I'm really baffled at the asking price of these properties that have hit the market considering how bullish the market was only in September and October. Now, I don't know what to do. I've experienced huge financial losses in Perth when the market started to drop due to oversupply so I know first hand it's a real threat that can happen at anytime. I could either play it safe and buy something now that there's so much to choose from within or below my budget or I could wait this out even longer and by next year I could be shopping in an absolute buyers market getting places for possibly 50k less than what I'd be paying now. Should I be patient and wait it out? Should I be humble and just buy something now there's so many places that suit my needs at a reasonable price?
Do both. Be patient, but keep an eye out for a *very* good deal. Also see if prices have crashed for 3BR - for example, could you get a 3BR for what people were paying for a 2BR? The Y-man
Keep the ones that have passed in at auction on your shortlist in RE.com If they are still there before Christmas, go in for the pre-Xmas buy. Would have been on the market for almost 2 months, and they would have to hold for another 2~3 months before the market gets underway again. The Y-man
No it's not that drastic yet, its only about a 3% drop in price. it could just be a flatline and not a decline. As per the Biggin Scott pulse blog: the urgency left the market last month - so still to early to tell full impact It's all these new apartment towers in the area set for completion in 2018 that really scares me.
Be patient for sure. Sydney is either going to drop or stay flat. Either scenario will give you time to be on the hunt and save a bigger deposit. Can only talk from experience up here in Darwin, but waiting an extra year for our PPOR was the best thing we ever did. Downturns seem to take a few years to really kick in. Sellers have to go through a whole phase of realisation before they drop the asking price.
