Sydney’s real estate boom is ‘officially over’, experts say

PHOTO: Auctioneer and real estate industry coach Tim Panos

After two years of soaring property values, experts have ruled Sydney’s pandemic-induced real estate boom “officially over”.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, auctioneer and real estate industry coach Tim Panos — who calls about 15 auctions every weekend — said there had been a significant shift in market conditions in recent weeks.

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Auctions in the NSW capital are passing in without opening bids, clearance rates are falling and more properties are taking prior offers, with conditions only likely to get tougher if interest rates rise later this year, as predicted.

“The boom is 100 per cent over. In February, we went from nuts to normal,” Mr Panos told the paper.

“Now, if you ask me, as we move from March into Easter, we’re going from normal to value declines.”

After two years of soaring values and incredible sales results, experts have ruled Sydney’s pandemic-induced real estate boom “officially over”. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

While $10 million-plus properties are showing resilience, “90 per cent of the rest of the properties in NSW markets have been impacted”, Mr Panos said.

“In September, there was the fear of missing out, but now for buyers, it’s been replaced by fear of overpaying,” he explained.

Now that buyers have more options — new property listings are 13.2 per cent higher, according to REA data, than this time last year — “sellers who have got a strong reason to sell are reducing the price to meet the market”, Mr Panos said.

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“Those without a strong reason to sell are hanging on waiting for the market to get back to where it was and they are blowing out their days on market,” he added.

“It’s really clear that the party is over.”

The first sign that Sydney’s turbocharged housing market is slowing down came this week, when Domain data on Monday revealed that more than one in ten homes are selling for less than they were initially priced at.

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An estimated 10 per cent of dwellings are having to sell at a substantially discounted price because of the phenomenon — reportedly caused by a saturated real estate industry, with too many people wanting to sell and not enough buyers to go around.

At the peak of last year’s property boom in July, that number — 10.5 per cent — was half as much, with only 5.9 per cent of homes having to discount their value to be snapped up.

An estimated 10 per cent of dwellings are having to sell at a substantially discounted price because of the phenomenon. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Nikki Short