WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR MARKET? At the beginning of this year, most agents were preparing for a significantly more difficult property market than the previous three years. There was the prospect of more properties than normal hitting the market as talk of forced mortgagee selling pervaded. There were also seemingly relentless interest rate increases that were eating into buyers’ borrowing capacity and putting downward pressure on prices. But what we have seen in the first half of the year is a Pymble market that has not only grown by around 8% but has experienced an almost drought-like period that has likely seen one of the lowest number of properties ever to come to market over that period. There is little doubt that abnormally high migration rates have been playing a factor in increasing demand irrespective of the higher cost of money. It’s expected that around 700,000 extra people will be living in Australia by the end of next year, and many of these migrants will be educated and have money to spend to buy homes in areas such as Pymble and the Upper North Shore. The more interesting observation, however, and more significant factor I see in keeping prices high is just how few people are selling. Most of the agents I have spoken with across the Upper North Shore have sold to date 30-50% less than what they did at the same time in 2021 and 2022. Ironically this environment of surging inflation and interest rate increases, typically a reluctant time to sell, is actually a good time to sell because there is next to no competition and the demand is there. We look ahead to the second half of this year and early listing numbers suggest that there will likely be more properties coming to market in the second half of 2023 than the first half, and particularly from September. The question remains: what impact does the extra supply have on a growing albeit less bullish market than those of 2021 and 2022? I hope to answer that question for you in my January 2024 report. What I can undeniably confirm is that over the last 10 years the Pymble housing market has increased a dash over 160%, and during that time we have had two downturns. Even if there are a few wobbles in the coming months as we navigate the current challenges, the market remains historically very high and incredibly resilient. CHAIRMAN’S Rowan Lazar 0412 329 789 rowan.lazar@raywhite.com
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