WITH the bag strapped over my shoulder, I’ve been spending most of my time recently travelling up and down the east coast meeting with various real estate agents.
When catching up with groups of agents I always conduct a little litmus test by asking, ‘What are the number of attendees at your open houses and are they higher or lower than this time last year?’
This style of questioning can give a real indication of how a market is moving.
Many factors cloud the real story.
Median price data can be inaccurate, clearance rates are a bogus barometer and gross market turnover is sometimes too broad.
It was the ‘booming’ Sydney market that I really wanted to test.
I was keen to bring back the message from Australia’s property frontline.
When people talk about the ‘booming Sydney market’ they are talking about the city’s eastern suburbs.
So the team I was most interested in hearing from was a group of top salespeople I was working with in the heart of Double Bay.
They spoke of diminishing levels of property for sale causing an increase in the number of buyers at their inspections meaning competition remained intense.
So buyer numbers are up and, according to them, prices are still rising, unbelievable!
This market seems to just keep going but there was something else.
One of the agents I met with had been selling in the eastern suburbs for more than 40 years.
As I dug deeper into their opinions regarding the continuing steam in the Sydney market I uncovered this agent was selling a property of his own.
A property he had purchased 20 years earlier.
When you consider all the hype and opportunity over the last four years, why had he waited until now?
If he is selling, you would assume he thinks Sydney is finally at the peak.
What does this message mean for us in Queensland?
With the positive noises coming out of Sydney, interest rates holding again this month and people’s confidence seemingly unchanged my read on the play is Brisbane prices are likely to hold firm until the end of the financial year.
They likely won’t rise but importantly won’t drop either.
Originally Published On: http://www.couriermail.com.au/