Spent yesterday looking at properties in upper north shore , In the 1.5 - 2.5 range , Pymble - Wahroonga .
Came away with the conclusion our property is conservatively worth around 20 % more than it was a year ago .
Came away with a few observations. The typical North short buyer is some one who grew up there , moved to somewhere closer to the centre of the city / inner west in their 20's and 30 to get away from the north shore , but like migrating salmon , they are drawn back their in their 30's to raise their family....
There are currently two further groups now buying houses in the north shore .
There have been multiple units built along the pacific hwy in recent years and people were buying these , eg a 2 bedder in preference to a 1 bedder in a more central area. They bought because they saw good value , but have actually liked the area and are now looking to buy their first house in the area.
As mentioned Epping elsewhere has been booming to the point where you can have to pay 2 - 2.4 for a nice suburban house . The railway has been a significant driver , but Epping is an area that has access to the best performing state School ( James Ruse ) as well as Kings. Epping is historically cheaper than the north shore , but currently , its going crazy over there . The agents I talked too report significant numbers of buyers from that region who have realized that you can get something nicer for less on the north shore , and ( maybe I'm biased ...) I think the North Shore is a nice place.
So what''s happening . Up to 5-6 weeks ago the market was Crazy , with most auctions having several bidders and prices 3-400 above reserve were not uncommon . For houses sold at that time this wound have been around another 10- 15 % on top of the generally accepted 15-20 % price rise .
That Crazy period has stopped . There are some vendors who are bringing properties on the market with the expectation of getting that extra 10- 15 % , but with the heat out of the market and in the setting of a non competative set price sale , those properties aren't selling.
There are still lots of buyers out there but they're no longer fighting to get anything that comes on the market . But properties that are coming onto the market with correct pricing ( 20 % up from a year ago ) are selling , and some on the day of listing. Anything that has a realistic vendor is selling .
We saw a couple of houses that went to auction 5-6 weeks ago and had top offers that we were very good , but the vendors got greedy thinking they should get more and now they on the market for less than the top offers. The properties had some significant negatives , close to major road , low ceilings , bad / date floor plan etc.
One recurring comment was about the lack of stock . One agent said they had one third the stock levels of a year ago . There was some difference of opinions about how much supply they have coming on the market in the near future with some saying there was very little and some saying they had a few coming on the market after school holidays.
The number of people at the opens was similar to when we bought in the middle of last year . Steady but not busy , but school holidays is a quieter time for buying on the north shore. We were able to spend time having detailed conversation about the specific property and the market in general with all agents.
There is money out there . We chatted to one couple in their early 30's with three young kids . The house we looking at was asking 1.7 and I though it was over priced considering several major negatives ( very closer to Freeway with constant noise , slightly dysfunction plan and a weird back yard . I asked the husband what he thought . He replied he didn't know , they were looking around 3 mill . They were interested in the house up the road and saw the sign down here so they thought they'd pop in .....
So my conclusion is the market is still good for selling , but you need to know what to ask or you will be ignored. There are low stock levels , though more coming on and there are buyers out there .
The agents don't expect a sudden return to a crazy period but a steady market . What really happens will depend on supply Vs demand . I don't expect a major increase in prices over winter , but it will be interesting to see what happens.
Everyone was talking about recent articles talking about the property boom being over. The agents were frustrated .... but it may well have been responsible for taking the heat out of the market .
The general conclusion is that there are journalists in Fairfax, who cant get into the market .....
Cliff
Came away with the conclusion our property is conservatively worth around 20 % more than it was a year ago .
Came away with a few observations. The typical North short buyer is some one who grew up there , moved to somewhere closer to the centre of the city / inner west in their 20's and 30 to get away from the north shore , but like migrating salmon , they are drawn back their in their 30's to raise their family....
There are currently two further groups now buying houses in the north shore .
There have been multiple units built along the pacific hwy in recent years and people were buying these , eg a 2 bedder in preference to a 1 bedder in a more central area. They bought because they saw good value , but have actually liked the area and are now looking to buy their first house in the area.
As mentioned Epping elsewhere has been booming to the point where you can have to pay 2 - 2.4 for a nice suburban house . The railway has been a significant driver , but Epping is an area that has access to the best performing state School ( James Ruse ) as well as Kings. Epping is historically cheaper than the north shore , but currently , its going crazy over there . The agents I talked too report significant numbers of buyers from that region who have realized that you can get something nicer for less on the north shore , and ( maybe I'm biased ...) I think the North Shore is a nice place.
So what''s happening . Up to 5-6 weeks ago the market was Crazy , with most auctions having several bidders and prices 3-400 above reserve were not uncommon . For houses sold at that time this wound have been around another 10- 15 % on top of the generally accepted 15-20 % price rise .
That Crazy period has stopped . There are some vendors who are bringing properties on the market with the expectation of getting that extra 10- 15 % , but with the heat out of the market and in the setting of a non competative set price sale , those properties aren't selling.
There are still lots of buyers out there but they're no longer fighting to get anything that comes on the market . But properties that are coming onto the market with correct pricing ( 20 % up from a year ago ) are selling , and some on the day of listing. Anything that has a realistic vendor is selling .
We saw a couple of houses that went to auction 5-6 weeks ago and had top offers that we were very good , but the vendors got greedy thinking they should get more and now they on the market for less than the top offers. The properties had some significant negatives , close to major road , low ceilings , bad / date floor plan etc.
One recurring comment was about the lack of stock . One agent said they had one third the stock levels of a year ago . There was some difference of opinions about how much supply they have coming on the market in the near future with some saying there was very little and some saying they had a few coming on the market after school holidays.
The number of people at the opens was similar to when we bought in the middle of last year . Steady but not busy , but school holidays is a quieter time for buying on the north shore. We were able to spend time having detailed conversation about the specific property and the market in general with all agents.
There is money out there . We chatted to one couple in their early 30's with three young kids . The house we looking at was asking 1.7 and I though it was over priced considering several major negatives ( very closer to Freeway with constant noise , slightly dysfunction plan and a weird back yard . I asked the husband what he thought . He replied he didn't know , they were looking around 3 mill . They were interested in the house up the road and saw the sign down here so they thought they'd pop in .....
So my conclusion is the market is still good for selling , but you need to know what to ask or you will be ignored. There are low stock levels , though more coming on and there are buyers out there .
The agents don't expect a sudden return to a crazy period but a steady market . What really happens will depend on supply Vs demand . I don't expect a major increase in prices over winter , but it will be interesting to see what happens.
Everyone was talking about recent articles talking about the property boom being over. The agents were frustrated .... but it may well have been responsible for taking the heat out of the market .
The general conclusion is that there are journalists in Fairfax, who cant get into the market .....
Cliff
