Cunninghams Property Update

With another active sales month over in july which saw our average sale price reach a record of $1,200,000 we are seeing good signs of new properties being prepared for the spring market place. There is only one month left of winter and suprisingly we have a good selection of new stock for you to view on Saturday.

 Houses for sale in Balgowlah, Fairlight , Manly and surrounding suburbs are showing strong respone to open home viewings averaging nearly 13 groups per viewing  providing compelling evidence of confidence not only in the market but more over the joys of living in the best locality Sydney and dare i say Australian Real Estate has to offer.

On another level have you noticed the dramatic increase in new ways to find property information on the web these days?
We now have Google Real Estate http://maps.google.com.au/help/maps/realestate which we are on
Youtube www.youtube.com/sydneyproperties check out our sydneyproperties page
Facebook link http://www.facebook.com/cunninghamsproperty
Twitter link http://twitter.com/cunninghams
News, views and information blog www.cunninghamspropertyupdate.com.au
and now www.cunninghams.tv which is all video content

With all of this happening over the past 12 months imagine what the next 12 months will bring, the mind boggles, but the mind has to also accept that change and the consequent adaption to change is inevitable and we are committed to be at the forefront of those changes to ensure our clients and customers are able to utilise and take advantage of the information super highway at their fingertips.

Enjoy the ride.

SOLD SOLD SOLD – that’s where and now we are slowly gathering new stock to launch over the next few weeks to keep the growing list of buyers happy.

 With only 6 weeks of winter officially left and 2 of those weeks, part of school holidays, time is ticking for sellers to prepare their properties for the traditionally strong early spring market.

 For buyers, the key is to make sure you have your finance pre-approved to avoid the massive time delays that are being experienced at present.

 Some of our recent sales buyers have had to wait over 4 weeks to get bank approvals thereby running the risk of them missing out to more prepared buyers.

The first half of 2009 has seen Sydney’s Northern Beaches from Manly to Narrabeen in particular, surge with response from First Home Buyers. We saw almost 50 viewings on first day for two properties one unit in Dee Why and the other in Queenscliff with 20 or more viewings on other units for sale under $500,000. Buyers are fighting it out to receive what they see as excellent value in today’s property market.

In 2008 unit values dropped around 10% in the Manly and Warringah regions. 2009 has seen that flip back to the values of late 2007. Will it continue to rise? – we  are not sure!, affordability is the best in 20 years, interest rates are the lowest in 40 years but economically we are in a bad way so a stabilisation of the market should be expected for the balance of the year.

First home buyers would be wise to be careful and not get carried away in securing an extra $7,000 from the government, it’s only 2% of the value of a $350,000 unit and with the market running hot it’s important to be careful.

Having said that the market has a mind of it’s own and moving through the 2nd quarter of 09 we have seen the traditional shortage of winter stock appear resulting in stiffer competition for the available stock between the still abundance of buyers. This will no doubt put additional pressure on values and price rises could be the result.

However once the traditional spring rush of stock appears we expect the balance of supply and demand to be more stable. So now is a great time to sell in what appears to be an opportune  SELLERS style market in the short term.

We had a solid finish to the end of June with 20 properties exchanged bringing the half year total to 125 properties sold since January. This is up 66% on the same period last year which can be explained by a number of factors.

The average sale price is lower, down from $975,000 last June to $932,000 this June with the most significant change being 9 of Junes sales averaging $1.5 mil. Our Average sale price is almost $200,000 higher than the local area’s average.

The first home owner’s scheme flooded the market with sub $500,000 buyers propping up the market significantly.   The flow on effect to 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier buyers has seen far more $1million plus sales occur in the past 2 months.

Lower interest rates this year have seen the average cost per mortgage drop by over 40% providing property buyers with more disposable income.  For those with job security (despite the general effects of the GFC) this availability of funds has increased their borrowing capacity and given them confidence to get back into the market.

We live in one of the most desired areas of Sydney and this alone creates a market of generally high demand and low supply creating the potential for competition between buyers for the limited stock.

Prices are generally holding firm and this gives buyers a feeling of confidence and security to make a move in a safe environment.

Cunninghams Property has taken a solid grip on the leading local agent of choice position with a 35% market share position.

With the obvious lack of new properties coming onto the market through the middle of winter we expect to see increased buyer activity. And with no sign of changes to interest rates for some time we could start to see a gradual recovery of values happening towards and into the New Year. This means that right now is a great time to buy whilst the market is stable.