In times when Australians are opting for the inner-city experience over the idyllic life of the suburbia and choosing balconies instead of backyards, ‘Walkability’ has certainly become a prime criteria for selecting homes. Michael Yardney for the Property Update asserts that homes closer to amenities, transport and healthcare facilities will be among the more sought after.
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3 property market reports you cannot miss
As many as 3 Australian property market reports are worthy of an evaluation. An article on the ‘FX open’ website discusses them in great detail. Let us take a look.
Vendor discounts drop considerably
Vendor discounts have dropped considerably providing sellers with many reasons to laugh. Additionally, the property prices are on a rise, interest rates are pretty stable and Australia is looking at a very high auction clearance phase lately. Charlotte Cossar for Realestate.com.au says that this might just be the time for you to put up your house on sale.
Vendor discounting is the difference between list price and sales price. Over the last year, this discount has come down from -7.2 to -6.4
When buyers do not seek very high discounts, it augurs well for the selling climate. With higher volume of sales transactions, stable cash rates and steady median prices (relatively high), things could not look better for the property market. In fact, the auction clearance rates are giving very strong signals too. Only about a month ago, the Prestige Market had posted near record figures for Sydney. You can read the full article here.
Fewer homes selling at a loss
The latest housing data shows a positive trend for Australian homes – fewer properties are selling at a loss.
It is an interesting upward trend especially after a dubious quarter (July 2012-Sep 2012) where 13.5% of homes sold at a loss while only 30.9 % of homes sold at prices two times more than the purchase price. Over the last quarter, the number of homes selling at a loss has come down to 12.5% while those sold at more than double the purchase price has appreciated to 32.1%. The trend is visible across all of Australia.
Properties on or near coastal areas have suffered the most while those close to resource and mining sectors have seen minimal losses. It is also worth noting that the financial crisis is not the only reason why homes are being sold at a loss. Many people are doing so because it allows them to buy another property (where appreciation can be very high in the near future) at a throwaway price.
Read the full article here.
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