Articles

The Sydney property market is currently undergoing a change in the cycle, and buying techniques and strategies that were necessary up until very recently, should definitely be reviewed.

No longer are we seeing Auction clearance rates in the high 80% range, last weekend saw clearance rates down to 65%. Some lenders are getting more discerning on who, and how much they are lending to. Property volumes are currently also very high, adding to the choice current buyers have.

Sydney's changing auction market

Property market is currently changing in Sydney, Australia

So how should your buying strategy change? And what is in store next for the property market?

Firstly, let’s make it clear that the blue chip areas of Sydney, which are the Eastern Suburbs, the Lower North Shore and the Inner West are still very healthy, and quality properties with all the desirable attributes are still attracting multiple buyers and bidding is still generally strong. There is no sign of a ‘crash’ or ‘bubble bursting’, and waiting for such is unrealistic.

However recent property buyers’ eagerness to buy at any price level, and the ‘fear of missing out’ is fading away fast. This is a good thing, as a healthy market is when there is a balance between the position of the buyer and the seller.

So often, investors get so lost in all the detail of property, that it prevents them from seeing the big picture, and ultimately the most important concept of Property Investing.

This often leads to confusion, indecision, and a lack of taking action, the worst enemy of any investor.

Call me biased, but I genuinely believe property is by far, one of the best investments one could ever make. The ability to safely leverage to accumulate a large asset base of growth assets is the main reason this is true. Along with property’s ability to provide a steady passive income, the tax benefits, the compounding growth, ability to add value, low risk, tangibility etc.

Australian millionaires hold more than 40% of their wealth in property (according to the 18th annual World Wealth Report)

Purchasing a property is probably one of the biggest investments, if not THE biggest investment you will make in your whole life. It still surprises me how seemingly intelligent and educated buyers will attend an Auction with the ‘I’m just going to see how it goes’ plan.

They may have inspected the property a few weeks earlier and liked it, but were too busy to follow up, and in the final days before Auction, were convinced by the persuasive selling agent to attend the auction, with comments like “The owners are very keen to sell, and have bought elsewhere, they will take whatever the market offers on the night, if you have at least $x ( x = lower than it will really sell for) , you should definitely be there or you will miss out on a great buy!”