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Super Saturday?
The strength of the Sydney residential property market will undergo its first real test of the year today (Saturday 8 April) with 454 properties going to auction in 2006’s first Super Saturday.
Real Estate Institute of NSW President, Mrs Cristine Castle, said today that this year’s proximity of Easter and Anzac Day had brought forward a raft of auctions with 775 scheduled for the week ending this Sunday.
“The fact that there have been 775 properties scheduled for this week and 454 for today is indication in itself that the residential property market is gathering momentum but the clearance rates and prices on Super Saturday will be a clear indication of whether or not the market is on the mend,” Mrs Castle said.
According to Australian Property Monitors data provided by Research Director and guest speaker at the REINSW Residential Property Update breakfast, Mr Louis Christopher, there are signs of recovery in the market with clearance rates of 58 and 54 percent for the past two weeks, respectively. However, properties being sold by private treaty are now spending well in excess of an average 110 days on the market.
Mrs Castle said the current figures strongly suggest that sellers that are auctioning homes and have realistic price expectations are selling their properties in a relatively short period on the market, while those people who are persisting with private treaty and unreasonable expectations are waiting more than three months before heavily discounting their asking price.
“There are clear benefits at the moment for private treaty sellers to consider selling at auction. Clearance rates are good and appear to be improving while some private treaty vendors are waiting a minimum of three months to sell their properties,” Mrs Castle said.
In good news for buyers, Mrs Castle said the interest rate outlook appears stable despite speculation in the media.
According to fellow guest speaker at the REINSW Residential Property Update breakfast, Mr Bill Evans, Westpac Chief Economist “interest rates will remain steady” at 5.5 percent until June 2007 when he predicts a quarter of a percentage point fall.
Mr Evans said that interest rates will remain low largely due to the relative weakness of the NSW economy.
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