News and Media

History:  Over the past 3 years Lower North Shore residential property values have shown substantial growth. The property boom of 2014 & 2015 showed it was not uncommon for Chatswood houses to double in value from their 2013 levels.

2016 started with a lack of supply and a series of events that put a dampener on house values and sales. The APRA changes on investment loans, China's restrictions on currency outflow and then the muting and later call of the Federal election all contributed to a slow market with poor stock levels. By early Spring 2016 (the election over and buyers getting their heads around the APRA and China currency changes) we saw a much stronger market with more stock on the market and buyers showing more confidence that generated renewed growth. By November the market lost a little steam with rising stock levels and softer buyer demand (not uncommon for that time of the year).

2017:  The normal start to the selling season (after the Australia Day weekend) started with low stock levels. What has been sold around our area of Chatswood have shown strong results due to strong buyer demand with low stock levels. We will see more stock coming onto the market over the coming months but far from the levels of 14/15.

The Spring season is traditionally well supported with sellers and there is no reason to expect any changes this year. Our advice to vendors is to go early to get best value before rising stock levels meet buyer demand. This normally occurs by October/November.

2018:  Part of our role as licensed agents is to canvas a broad range of views and advise form key players and groups in the residential property markets of Sydney. 

The predominate predictions are of a change to our property values caused mainly from external sources that may effect and influence us in late 2017 through 2018.

Interest Rates:  AU Banks can only partly fund their needs from local deposits. They rely on international capital markets to fund the remainder. With the US increasing their bond rates there is a flow on effect to international rates that will more than likely push our interest rates up regardless of the Reserve Bank. APRA have also pushed up the reserves banks need to hold as a buffer against any future market shocks. Investors were the first to feel these effects with rate rises passed on by lenders late last year and early this year. 

Mortgage Stress:  There is a reported increase in mortgage stress on borrowers with two minor rises over the past months. This could be the start of a longer trend. Whilst the greatest stress appears to be in the mining towns of WA and Qld there are signs of stress in NSW and Sydney. It will be interesting to see if with rising interest rates this stress to owners will rise significantly. If it does and starts a sustained sell off of highly geared properties the flow on could effect wide segments of our market in a negative way.

Vendors:  We know what we know and the future is a just an educated guess. We are advising vendors that if they have a short term plan to sell in 2017/18 that it may be better to sell this year before the predicted uncertainty could start to come into play. Vendors are encouraged to consult with their financial advisers to evaluate their individual positions and risk.