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Hear the latest weekly insights into the property market via podcast by Rich Harvey, CEO and founder of Propertybuyer.

 
Wed 22 Nov '23 with Rich Harvey Using Data & AI for Better Property Decisions
 
 
Thu 7 Sep '23 with Rich Harvey Northern Beaches Real Estate Outlook & Industry Trends
 
 
Thu 20 Jul '23 with Rich Harvey How Sales Agents Think
 
 
Thu 15 Jun '23 with Rich Harvey Auctions – The Inside Scoop
 
 
Fri 9 Jun '23 with Rich Harvey Financing Innovation & Building a Property Portfolio
 
 
Thu 25 May '23 with Amanda Jones Melbourne Property Insights
 

 

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Did the Sydney housing market just yank the handbrake?

May 16, 2017 / Written by Rich Harvey

 

By Rich Harvey, CEO, propertybuyer.com.au

Feel that whiplash? After strong growth for several years, Sydney's market just pumped the brakes in a huge way. CoreLogic RP Data's indices for April show that across the month, there was precisely 0.0 per cent growth in dwelling values.

Now, one month of stalling isn't enough to call this a longer-term plateau - a month is just a month. But it could point to some interesting changes for house hunters in the country's hottest property market.

Getting some breathing room

Rather than any kind of overwhelming failure, I think this is just the market taking a breather. As Tim Lawless from CoreLogic pointed out, this April had a lot of mitigating factors that could prevent people from buying - ANZAC weekend, the long Easter break, and the school holidays. Many buyers might have been out of the city, or too busy with the kids to buy.

The Easter holidays might have caused the break in Sydney's property growth.
The Easter holidays might have caused the break in Sydney's property growth.

We're also heading into winter, when many buyers decide to shut up shop and wait for spring (although that opens the door for opportunistic buyers to pick up a deal with lower demand).

You've also got the APRA lending restrictions, which have had an immediate impact. Lawless noted that half of mortgage lending in Sydney is going to property investors. With APRA targeting this exact group, it should come as no surprise that demand (and value growth) will take a hit.

So yes, the market's hit the brakes. But this is the property market we're talking about - a breather can be a good thing.

Time for the canny property investors to shine

One thing with Sydney's halt in growth is that it may put a lot of house hunters off. Investment property in Sydney has long been a golden goose for people looking at capital gains, and this break in value rises could give a lot of the market pause.

What you have to remember is that a) this isn't necessarily a downward trend, and b) in the long term Sydney real estate is just going to keep on rising. If the quiet April means many buyers decide to halt their investment plans, it can effectively reduce your competition, giving you more power at the negotiating table.

Want to get in before winter sets? Talk to one of the buyers' agents at Propertybuyer to get started.

The Propertybuyer
Podcast

 
Wed 22 Nov '23
with Rich Harvey
Using Data & AI for Better Property Decisions
 
 
Thu 7 Sep '23
with Rich Harvey
Northern Beaches Real Estate Outlook & Industry Trends
 
 
Thu 20 Jul '23
with Rich Harvey
How Sales Agents Think
 
 
Thu 15 Jun '23
with Rich Harvey
Auctions – The Inside Scoop
 
 
Fri 9 Jun '23
with Rich Harvey
Financing Innovation & Building a Property Portfolio
 
 
Thu 25 May '23
with Amanda Jones
Melbourne Property Insights
 

 

Listen to many more
podcasts on our
Podcasts page.