22 Nov It’s a buyers market, but is anybody buying?

If you look at any real estate agent’s website or just simply visit real estate.com, you will notice there are many properties listed for sale. When you apply simple supply and demand equations there are more people trying to sell than people willing to buy. The purchasing power has shifted to the buyer, but it seems as though the buyers don’t even want to buy even though the present market conditions work in their favour.

We all know there are many factors that impact the potential buyers’ decision. The banks not lending money, government policy uncertainty, property values dropping and not to mention the negative media attention? This is all noise and buying a property should only take in your situation, not what experts predict the market will do, not what governments are proposing.

Interesting reports have been released recently around auction clearance rates in Sydney last weekend and you will be surprised. There are some areas in Sydney where auction clearance rates are double or triple of other areas in Sydney. There is a massive gap between the highest clearance rate and the lowest, which represents that some areas are still strong and in demand by buyers. Only 22.1% of the 22 proposed auctions in the Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury regions actually sold at auction, compared to 68.8% of 110 proposed auctions in the Eastern Suburbs. Areas like North Sydney, the Inner West of Sydney were all above 50% and the Inner South West, Ryde and the Northern Beaches were not far behind.

Auction clearance rates are not the only indication of property prices and values, it only records the data for auctions, as the name suggests. It’s interesting to see that such areas in Sydney are still in demand in a declining market.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” – Steve Jobs

Thank you for reading