FOR SALE: Charm, space and lifestyle on 556sqm - 42 North Street, Marrickville features 🛏4, 🛁1, 🚗3 and comes with a deep and private back garden with an expansive level lawn. For more information or to arrange an inspection time, contact our office on (02) 9818 2133. In the meantime, step inside: https://bit.ly/42NorthStreet

Looking for your new #home? Our #agents will be welcoming you through the following #properties this #Saturday 21 May:

The latest market wrap is available now. Check it out via https://bit.ly/MarketWrap19052022

JUST SOLD! 🤝 - 52 Mackenzie Street, #Leichhardt has sold with #HarrisPartners after a very successful sales campaign! #Congratulations to our wonderful #client and the lucky #purchaser. Well done to agents #peteromalley and #alanawilliams on a great campaign! If you would like some more #information or a #marketappraisal on your #property, contact the Harris Partners team on ☎️ 02 9818 2133!

FOR SALE: Spacious and well proportioned waterfront apartment - 13/8 Lookes Avenue, Balmain East features 🛏3, 🛁2, 🚗1 and comes with postcard views from every angle of the apartment. For more information or to arrange an inspection time, contact our office on (02) 9818 2133. In the meantime, step inside: https://bit.ly/138LookesAvenue

Are you looking for your next home? Find out where our agents will be tomorrow:

The latest market wrap is available now. Check it out via https://bit.ly/MarketWrap12052022

FOR SALE: DA Approved plans for your dream family home - 198 Nelson Street, Annandale features 🛏2, 🛁1, 🚗1 and comes with a terraced backyard including level entertainment areas. For more information or to arrange an inspection time, contact our office on (02) 9818 2133. In the meantime, step inside: https://bit.ly/198NelsonStreet

When a property market turns, the tricks, trends and tactics employed by agents, sellers and buyers change too. If you identify the shift in how the market is functioning, you stand a much better chance of being on the right side of the trade. Those looking to buy or sell in the next few months will be faced with a barrage of dramatic reporting and predictions as mortgage rates rise. Staying calm, up-to-date and pragmatic is the key to winning in the 2022 property market. 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭... wages and rents will also rise, to cushion the impact. Interest rates are rising due to global inflation. With inflation running so hot and an unemployment rate of 4% in Australia, wages are rising. Higher earnings will help owner occupiers. As you have probably read, rents are rising. There is not a rental crisis in Sydney as much as rents are merely returning to their pre-COVID levels. The rental crisis is mainly in lifestyle locations and regional cities where higher wage earners shifted during COVID and inadvertently imported rental inflation into these lifestyle markets. If population growth explodes in the next 12 months now that the international borders are open, then rents will begin to exceed their pre-COVID levels in the major capital cities. This will help landlords offset rising interest rates. Get set to read and hear a wave of doomsayers who quote current rental returns and wages as the primary reasons higher mortgage rates will crush the property market. Admittedly, rents and wages have been stagnant for some time now. “The maths simply won’t work for tens of thousands of households, as interest rates rise” the ‘Permabears’ will argue. This is unsophisticated analysis though. When it comes to markets, nothing happens in isolation. Yes, higher interest rates will put downward pressure on property prices, but the higher rents and wages will act as a support mechanism, to help/hopefully avoid a market crash. Furthermore, many households took advantage of ultra-low mortgage rates during COVID and fixed their mortgage rates. Interestingly, households seemed to accept that interest rates would rise well before the RBA did. If the economy and the property market come under sustained pressure as interest rates increase, the RBA, the Federal Government of the day and the retail banks will also respond to support the economy. They cannot and won’t sit idly by. The Federal Budget in April demonstrated that a Government can be nimble and nuanced in their policy response, when required. Those that fixed their mortgage at the bottom of the rate cycle have clearly beaten the banks in the mortgage market game. Given there were a record number of households that fixed their home loan rate at the time of ultra-low mortgage rates, that trend will now minimise mortgage stress in the housing market, as rates rise. If households enjoy higher wages, receive higher rents on their investments and/or have fixed their mortgage rates at ultra-low levels, then cases of forced selling in the property market will be moderate. In 2 to 4 years (2024 – 2026), many of the ultra-low home loans from the COVID era will come up for refinancing. It is at this time that mortgage stress could rise as many people are suddenly exposed to the higher interest rates of the day as their Fixed Home Loan rate expires. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 – a characteristic of a booming market is lots of buyers and few sellers. This was evident during the COVID property boom. Clearly prices rise in this scenario. In rising markets, many people opt to 𝑏𝑢𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙. Even though there is always a risk in buying before you have sold, the risk of selling and watching prices rise by the week is a greater risk. A characteristic of a depressed market is excess listings relative to buyer demand. Whilst some vendors hold out against the market, the reality is prices fall when the number of sellers outnumber buyers in the marketplace. Many people wisely secure the best sale they can in a depressed market before making a property purchase. This removes the risk of unintentionally owning two properties in a falling market. The current market is evenly poised between 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 and 𝑏𝑢𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑. Stock levels are tight due to the Federal Election campaign and the winter market closing in (winter is a traditional slow period for stock levels). However, stock is more likely to increase sharply than decrease in the current environment. Locking in a sale at a good price before buying may be a smarter option in the current market. 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 – everyone has or has heard of a ‘cost blow out’ horror story with a renovation or building project. Unfortunately, large and small building companies, locked into fixed price contracts, are going broke. Others are being squeezed at the margins like never before, through no fault of their own. Quite simply, the cost of materials and labour is driving construction costs higher. In the real estate market, buyers are shunning unrenovated properties in favour of renovated homes. Buyers being extremely time poor are also adding to the appeal of a completed property. After years of Sunday night television shows glorifying renovations in a 30-minute program (if only it was that easy), buyers are suddenly extremely hesitant to undertake major building/renovation works. Even though renovation costs have risen, in many instances, buyers tend to overestimate the cost of these works. And they overcompensate in the offer they make the vendor. Therefore, vendors are better served doing as much work and improvements as practically possible, to lift the standard of their property, before going to market. The days of unrenovated properties selling for a similar price to a renovated one, are over. 𝐎𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 – many vendors are exposing themselves to financial loss in the current market by allowing their selling agents to savagely underquote the value of their property, in the marketing phase of the campaign. The pitch goes along the lines ‘let’s quote a really low price initially to attract the best buyers and ratchet the price up during the campaign as the buyer competition builds’. When a property sells for $300,000 or $400,000 above the initial (low) price guide, the agent blames ‘the market’ to the aggrieved underbidders. In recent times, vendors who have gone along with the underquote ‘tactic’ are oblivious to the risks they are running. In the current market stock levels are higher and the auction clearance rate is now below 50%. The bidding wars that occurred in 2021 are not happening in 2022. Many vendors have recently experienced a painful reality - if you start with a low price, you may finish the campaign with a low price. Yes, a vendor can easily pass the property in and/ or withdraw from the auction, as 50% of vendors are currently doing. In the process, the $10,000 advertising campaign will have gone up in smoke, as will the $7,500 on styled furniture. It is only at this point that the vendor’s oblivious mindset to the risks they have taken, turns into a definitive financial loss. On those numbers, it’s a financial nightmare for many vendors. The agent will blame ‘the market’ and move on without any financial loss and probably “rinse and repeat” the same process with someone else. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t… The primary consideration for vendors who fail to sell, having consented to their agent underquoting, is the damage that is done to the respective property’s digital footprint. When a seller wants $2.4 million for their home, yet allows their selling agent to advertise it as ‘Guide $1.9 million’ the vendor is usually unaware ‘$1.9 million’ is recorded on property data websites for all time. These data companies won’t delete the pricing history just because the ‘tactic’ didn’t work out as the vendor hoped. When vendors discover their property has been so viciously devalued, they quickly turn from oblivious to irate. If a vendor wilfully lies, or allows their selling agent to lie on their behalf, to buyers about the acceptable selling price, then the vendor owns the result. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭!” – is a common response from sellers when it’s suggested their expectations may be above the current market price. In a rising market, waiting is a smart play. If the market is falling, maybe it’s not so smart to wait around. Patience is a virtue, stubbornness is not. The property market did not rise as one and it won’t correct as one either. For example, houses outpaced apartments during the boom. During COVID, larger, spacious houses rose faster in price than smaller ones. As the overall market cools in 2022, the prestige end of the market is still booming. If your property is not selling in the current market, it’s best to ask yourself, ‘are we being patient or stubborn?’ Sometimes waiting is the best strategy, sometimes it isn’t. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 – Buyers will begin to hear headlines and anecdotes about, ‘the property market is falling’. If a ‘bargain’ is a buyer’s primary objective, they are more likely to end up with a flawed property than a genuine bargain. Buyers should remember, the best homes are the least negotiable and vice versa. If you have a long-term perspective for the property you are going to purchase, then you will experience several market cycles in that time. No one really knew where and when the last boom would peak and no one really knows when the next downturn will bottom out. If you buy quality real estate, you will enjoy higher highs during boom times and higher lows during downturns. Quality is the best criteria for buying a property, not a bargain everyone else has passed over. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫… Home sellers understandably compare their property to the sales within the street and/or the immediate surrounds. Whilst their home may be comparable, or genuinely superior to the property that sold down the street last year, the market conditions are not the same. The housing market was stronger last year, and mortgage rates were considerably lower for home buyers. Therefore, in some cases, superior homes may sell for less in 2022 than inferior homes did in 2021 in your street or suburb. The agent is not incompetent, the buyers are not bargain hunters, it’s simply that the property market has considerably changed. Markets rise, markets fall due to a multitude of factors. The best way to describe the current situation is prices are not 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒, they are 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒. The 2021 boom was an aberration which the RBA should have addressed sooner.

JUST LISTED: Timeless elegance with modern family appeal - 33 Wrights Road, Drummoyne features 🛏4, 🛁3, 🚗2 and comes with a private and sunlit backyard with level lawn and paved BBQ area. For more information or to arrange an inspection time, contact our office on (02) 9818 2133. In the meantime, step inside: https://bit.ly/33WrightsRoad

SOLD! 🤝 - 40/150 Wigram Road, #ForestLodge has sold with #HarrisPartners for $1,077,500 after a very short but successful sales campaign! #Congratulations to our wonderful #client and the lucky #purchaser. Well done to agents #simoncoates and #joeaddabbo on a great campaign! If you would like some more #information or a #marketappraisal on your #property, contact the Harris Partners team on ☎️ 02 9818 2133!

The latest market wrap is available now. Check it out via https://bit.ly/MarketWrap05052022

SOLD! 🤝 - 4/1 Figtree Avenue, #Abbotsford has sold with #HarrisPartners for $1,630,000 after a very successful sales campaign! #Congratulations to our wonderful #client and the lucky #purchaser. Well done to #peteromalley and #gavinfreidin on a great campaign! If you would like some more #information or a #marketappraisal on your #property, contact the Harris Partners team on 02 9818 2133!

Are you looking for your next home? Find out where our agents will be tomorrow:

SOLD! 🤝 - 58 Carlisle Street, #Leichhardt has sold with #HarrisPartners after a very successful sales campaign! #Congratulations to our wonderful #client and the lucky #purchaser. Well done to #joeaddabbo and #simoncoates on a great campaign! If you would like some more #information or a #marketappraisal on your #property, contact the Harris Partners team on 02 9818 2133!

The imminent increase in the RBA cash rate has caused a flood of dire predictions & forecasts for both the economy & property market. Westpac's chief economist Bill Evans is someone with an impeccable record when it comes to such matters. Balanced & researched, this is a great interview with Bill Evans and Ross Greenwood that can be viewed here 👇 #rba #sold #harrispartners #sydneyproperty https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/ross-greenwood/sharp-rise-in-underlying-inflation-rate-shows-the-figure-was-underestimated/video/b018798ead0537a88f210538f24a9f90

The latest market wrap is available now. Check it out via https://bit.ly/MarketWrap28042022

SOLD! 🤝 - 18 Toelle Street, #Rozelle has sold with #HarrisPartners in only 28 days! #Congratulations to our wonderful #client and the lucky #purchaser. Well done to #joeaddabbo and #simoncoates on a great campaign! If you would like some more #information or a #marketappraisal on your #property, contact the Harris Partners team on 02 9818 2133!

Are you looking for your next home? Find out where our agents will be tomorrow:

The latest market wrap is available now. Check it out via https://bit.ly/MarketWrap21042022

FOR SALE: Immaculately renovated apartment with parking - 313/1 Missenden Road, Camperdown features 🛏2, 🛁1, 🚗1 and comes with residential common amenities such as an extraordinary rooftop with City Skyline/Bridge views & a swimming pool, sauna, spa, gym, BBQ and even a tennis court. For more information or to arrange an inspection time, contact our office on (02) 9818 2133. In the meantime, step inside: https://bit.ly/3131MissendenRoad

Bait pricing by real estate agents is rampant, of this there is no doubt. As a buyer, to see a property promoted with a Guide of $2.2 million sell for over $2.7 million can be both disheartening and confusing. Is the market really that strong (some people said it was coming off) or were you misled? That’s the question many unsuccessful buyers are asking themselves as they leave auctions defeated and disheartened. To invest money, time and emotion on a property that you were never a chance of securing, stinks. Alternatively, if the market is really paying $2.7 million for a property worth $2.2 million, then the boom of 2021 has accelerated even faster into 2022. Clearly this is not the case. The reality is, most buyers are bidding at auctions on false pretence. False pretence because the “owners have no intention of selling for the price the agent is quoting to the buyers”. Bait pricing is usually described in a sanitised fashion as ‘underquoting’. Make no mistake though, buyers are being baited into bidding at auctions by artificially low prices. As a buyer venturing into the marketplace, remember this point – the auction system cannot work without bait pricing. Since dummy bidding became outlawed, bait pricing became the replacement strategy to fuel the auction with multiple bidders. If your offer on a property is going to be unsuccessful, find out prior to the auction to avoid the humiliation of missing out in front of a crowd. Refuse to play the game. Submit your best and highest offer to the agent and state that you will not be attending the auction. Send a copy of the offer to the vendor’s lawyer to ensure the offer makes it all the way to the vendor. Just because the owner wants to go to auction, it does not mean you have too. Don’t take the bait. As a home seller, if you feel uncomfortable with your agent promoting your home for a price significantly less than you are prepared to accept, you should be.

SOLD! 🤝 - 39/43-57 Mallett Street, #Camperdown has sold with #HarrisPartners in only 23 days! #Congratulations to our wonderful client and the lucky #purchaser. Well done to #alanawilliams and #eliotheo on a great campaign! If you would like some more #information or a #marketappraisal on your #property, contact the Harris Partners team on 02 9818 2133!

Are you looking for your next home? Find out where our agents will be this Easter Saturday 16 April:

The latest market wrap is available now. Check it out via https://bit.ly/MarketWrap14042022