The rainy weather wasn’t enough to deter buyers last weekend, as we rolled into a cool first week of April. Adrian William conducted 22 open homes on Saturday and met 378 buyers, for an average of 17 attendees per inspection. Of the 11 auctions scheduled for April 1st, 6 sold prior and 5 sold at auction, making for a 100% clearance rate.
Since January 1st 2023, we’ve met 5,801 buyers at our property inspections, a 81% increase on the same quarter in 2022. We've also experienced a 37.5% increase in sales compared to the same quarter last year; this statistic sits in stark contrast to realestate.com.au's latest reports of a 36.4% drop in new listings across their website and a 17.5% decrease in sold listings compared to the same time last year.
Buyer activity appears to be remaining strong and steady, a sentiment reflected across our inspections and auctions during the last seven days. A notable sale from the weekend was 46 Princess Avenue Rodd Point, which sold at a competitive auction on Saturday morning for a cool $3,600,000. 25 Yule Street Dulwich Hill also exchanged under the hammer, the freestanding period home trading for $1,655,000, shortly after 8 Sutherland Street St Peters traded for $1,412,500 - a blank canvas with a bright future for the investors that purchased it.
First home buyers are once again in for some big changes following the state election. The new NSW Labor government is set to repeal the First Home Buyer Choice Scheme introduced in January by the Coalition, which gave first home buyers the option to ditch stamp duty entirerly in exchange for an annual property tax. From July 1st, Labor proposes to scrap the Liberal government's initiative in favour of their own scheme, which will see first home buyers will pay no stamp duty on purchases up to $800,000 (increased from $650,000) and a concessional rate for homes up to $1,000,000. Reports claim that the abolition of the Liberal governement's initiative won't affect buyers who opt for the land-tax option prior to the 1st July.
We're excited to announce that prolific Inner City agent Alésia Delaney joined our team last week, as reported by Elite Agent in an article that you can read here. Alésia is a leading agent in the pocket branching from Surry Hills through to Potts Point and Rushcutters Bay, and will be spearheading our operation in the Inner City and Inner East.
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