A New Suburb Record for Rhodes and New Properties to Be Seen.

We may have set the previous suburb record for Rhodes but that has not stopped us from surpassing it. This week we sold 49 Llewellyn Street on the waterfront for $5.611M – a spectacular result beyond our vendor’s expectations. With keen interest from multiple buyers, it is clear that a premium location such as this one can achieve premium prices when the right potential buyers are connected. 

Luxury homes are not the only drawcard for competition at the moment. From high end to brand new, entry level homes and apartments, we’ve placed half a dozen properties under offer this week as demand proves to be evenly distributed across the full range of diversity we currently have on the market.

We’ve launched some truly unique properties this week that cannot be overlooked:

• 26 Melbourne Street - a luxurious architecturally designed duplex
• 46 Frederick Street - a 486.9sqm dual access allotment with endless potential
• 1 Marceau Drive - an impressively grand, vintage luxury home
• 1/119-123 Regatta Road - A private boutique apartment with garden oasis

It is never too early to sprinkle the Christmas spirit, and we’re proud to provide personalised Santa letters for the children in our local community for the sixth year now. Simply complete this form, and you can expect some mail to arrive in your letterbox, straight from the North Pole.

Closing the loop on October, we look back at the month’s performance and important market news.
 

Auctions

Sydney’s auction momentum is not letting up. This week alone saw 712 auctions across Sydney, with an exceptionally promising 80% clearance rate - a 6% increase from last week and this time last year.

These stats bring us firmly back to where we were in October last year, and with record sales occurring Sydney-wide, premium prices and buyer numbers have been on consistent display.

More properties will come to market over November as people prepare to finalise sales before Christmas, and we can expect more choice and variety for buyers who have missed out as a result of competition, as purchases have consistently outweighed supply this year.
 

Interest rates

Earlier this month the Federal Budget was announced, and on the same day, the Reserve Bank Board and decided not to change the cash rate. Our overview of the Budget decisions can be read here. The RBA’s decision to hold the cash rate at 0.25% means interest rates on mortgages will remain stable, providing predictability to households and businesses for the time being.

The RBA will meet again in November to review our government’s activity on budget decisions, and consider lower rates. Economists expect interest rates will inch slightly lower before 2020 ends to assist people manage their cash flow and loans, make mortgages cheaper, and support others to enter the housing market.
 

House prices

National home values officially increased for the first time in October since May, with dwelling prices in Sydney showing their first increase, albeit a modest one.

This is a welcomed swing of the pendulum from the downward shifts witnessed over the past few months, and a reassuring sign of more change to come.

Overall, it is important to remember that property prices remain higher than they were in 2019, and this has been unwavering reinforcement of the market’s fundamental resilience.
 

Finance

Loans are at an all-time high, particularly for owner-occupiers which picked up in the last quarter across all states, consistent with a general increase in activity in the housing market.

The Federal Government has plans to relax responsible lending laws to remove barriers that slowed down or prevented people from accessing credit. The changes will make it easier for the majority of Australians and small businesses to access credit by reducing red tape and improving competition.
 

Buyer sentiment

Westpac’s Consumer Sentiment October Index released mid-October showed a peak in the general public’s vote of confidence in the market at rates not seen since July 2018. With a national increase of almost 12% following the Federal Budget announcement, NSW represented the highest increase across the country at 17.5%, a 32% increase in the last two months alone.

The current measure of people’s positivity and confidence is now sitting 10% above the average level reported six months before the pandemic, an outstanding result that demonstrates a rising confidence to transact in the current market.