We’re entering the Spring selling season of 2021 and Lockdown conditions are firmly in place across Sydney limiting the movement of people during a time where buyer demand and property supply are known to increase. This trend of spiking activity between the months of September and November has been the case for as long as we can remember. In the case of Sydney Spring brings an average increase of 23.3% in new listings compared the year’s total average, according to CoreLogic. It may come as a surprise however, that the impact on pricing during the Spring selling season is fairly marginal as the increase in buyer demand is matched, to a degree, by the increase in property supply.
Observing the lessons and results from the 2020 property market and the effects of lockdowns had on the overall market reveals that both sales and listings volumes will decrease. Low levels of price confidence from vendors, mortgage repayment deferrals and government household support, as well as additional hurdles in the purchasing process (e.g. inspections increasingly conducted virtually) are just a few of the factors which contribute to the reduction in new listings entering the market during the initial, and fiercest, lockdown periods.
With lockdown restriction easing planned, albeit loosely, towards the end of October it is expected that the supply of property listings to increase following. This is based on the results of Melbourne in 2020 which trended an average of 40.4% higher volumes of new listings than the previous five-year average in December after facing a similar lockdown scenario. This is because the relative stability of the economy and housing market through COVID has meant that housing purchasing decisions were more likely to have just been postponed through lockdowns, rather than abandoned all together.
It is also important to recognise is that buyer demand remains high during this period and when not matched by the supply, properties generate higher levels of competition.
Taking on a local perspective the Epping and North Epping market has seen consistently strong results through August. Having a reduction of new listings to the market, the auction clearance rates have in fact increased from the previous month at approximately 93% as of last weekend. Although a number of results are yet to be disclosed the most notable sales to occur during the month of August is that of 6 Lewis Street, Epping $3,300,000, 53 Midson Road, Epping $2,950,000, 1 Abulkea Road, Epping $2,898,000 and 101 Kent Street, Epping $2,788,000.
If you’ve been holding out for a new price appraisal, now is the time to ask by contacting Peter Hunton 0434 821 219