Belle Property

MARKET COMMENTARY Reflecting on the 2020 market it's hard to believe everything that has transpired in the space of 12 months. Coming off the back of a strong finish to 2019, the year started out with great momentum with a high number of transactions and strong auction clearance rates. No one could have predicted the worldwide pandemic and how this would change not only the way real estate was transacted but putting a grinding halt to the local and worldwide economies. Our industry like many, had to adapt and evolve quickly with open homes and auctions being banned and a transition to virtual inspections and online auctions. It was initially predicted that the property market would decline rapidly with some predicting a 30% drop in prices. Instead, we saw how resilient the Strathfield property market really is. Even in these initial uncertain months, the strong buyer demand combined with low stock levels and historically low interest rates saw our team have our strongest year to date. Moving into the second half of the year we have seen buyer sentiment high, especially in the housing market.There has been a strong demand for high end luxury homes and equally land value homes in premium locations, which have been selling well above expectations. The apartment market was a little slower to catch up.The main factor being the decline of the yields for investment properties during the earlier months of the year. In the past few months, we have starting to see more confidence coming back into this market with many first home buyers taking advantage of the updated First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme giving concessions for stamp duty up to $800,000 for established homes and newly built properties up to $1mil. Norman So & Michael Murphy