The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has had a significant affect on the housing market to date and many people are wondering, how has the market fared? Well it is easy to see based on reports that Sydney has declined over the past month with a drop of 0.9% according to CoreLogic. The values are still up by 2.8% when compared with the beginning of the year, but if trends continue, prices could fall by up to 6% by the end of the year.
Auction clearance rates have eased to 62% on the weekend ending 5th of September 2020, down by 20% when compared with the same time last year with a total of 437 auctions, 338 confirmed results and 211 sold. After the May election last year, there was a noticeable recovery of the Sydney housing market with certainty surrounding the investor market and an easing on lending restrictions.
Unfortunately with the onset of the Covid-19 and the social distancing and lockdown measures in place, this has stopped that growth. Asking rents have fallen and vacancy rates have climbed broadly in many areas in Sydney.
It has been observed that when looking at more specific markets, the impacts of the pandemic has been varied across the board in the past month and really, values are dependent on the property class, location to amenities and type of purchaser (eg. Owner-occupier or investor). We have noticed drops in value within the investment segment of the Inner Ring of Sydney (think Mascot, Haymarket, Forest Lodge and Zetland). On the other hand, values within the Inner West or Eastern Suburbs have held relatively firmly. Other areas such as in Balgowlah have seen positive results with the sale of 139 Woodland Street, Balgowlah selling for $2.88 million in July (with an original price guide of $2.75 million). Western Sydney has seen a lower impact from the Covid-19 pandemic when compared with other areas of Sydney where there is a higher proportion of owner-occupiers as opposed to renters and the over-supply in units.
Clients have asked me how property values will be going forward, and to that I have to say that we are always in an ever-changing situation and even more so with the current pandemic. In the short to medium term, there is going to be a lot of uncertainty, however there is still both value to be had as a purchaser, and optimism for the seller in certain areas. The value of your house or unit is dependent on so many factors and in order to figure out the value of your property, a registered valuer can certainly help. If you need any help in determining what a fair and reasonable value for your property in this market, feel free to give Vanguard Valuations a call or contact us and one of our friendly team will be more than happy to help with your enquiry.