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Sydney suburbs where the property market has dried up

The property market in Sydney's inner west isn't looking good. (Source: Getty)
The property market in Sydney's inner west isn't looking good. (Source: Getty)

Hopeful home buyers should not expect a flood of new properties on the market this spring.

Sydney’s inner west, in particular, will be particularly disappointing to those hoping for a rebound in the housing market, according to one Sydney-based buyer’s agent who has crunched the numbers.

“The research revealed new listings under 60 days in the Sydney region for July 2019 were down 28.4 per cent on last year’s figure, while total listing numbers had fallen 10.5 per cent,” said Buyer’s Domain founder Nick Viner.

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“But these extraordinary results paled in comparison to inner west suburbs where stock numbers have tightened even more dramatically.”

As of July this year, the number of new listings in Balmain had fallen by 41 per cent since the same time last year, while new properties listed for sale in Leichhardt had fallen by nearly half.

(Source: Buyer's Domain)
(Source: Buyer's Domain)

But nothing compared to Erskinville, which has seen a whopping 61.7 per cent drop in the number of new listings under 60 days.

It’s not getting any better

It’s actually not unusual to see a lower volume of listings in the lead-up to ‘spring selling season’ – but there is something distinctly different about this year, according to Viner.

By August, agents tend to have a good idea about the number of owners planning to list their property on the market in September – the warmer weather helps with a property’s presentation.

“But based on discussions within my inner west network, selling agents aren’t seeing a rise in their pipelines of potential vendors during the lead-up to spring 2019,” Viner said.

“It’s different to what I’ve experienced in previous years. This coal-face research suggests stock levels will remain tight this year.”

It’s slim pickings for hopeful homebuyers in Sydney’s inner west.

“Not only do I believe there will be a continued lack of stock available, but spring brings more potential buyers out of hibernation, which means more competition for 2019’s limited listings all set to push prices even higher.”

Why are listings retracting?

According to Viner, there are a few reasons: for one thing, sellers have been in a hold-and-see mindset since 2017.

But when the market begins to pick up, potential sellers worry that finding their next home will be difficult as there’s less of a selection – which means they’re more reluctant to bring their property to the market, leading to less stock.

“It’s a vicious circle,” Viner said.

His advice? Don’t wait for spring to bloom.

“If you locate a property that fulfils your needs now, then the best course may be to secure it before competition becomes even tougher.”

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