http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/inner-west-doing-best-but-sales-slip-20101018-16ph1.html
As the Sydney market continues to soften, vendors now have to trim 6.3 per cent off their asking prices so they can sell their homes. The figure was 5.7 per cent in April.
As the Sydney market continues to soften, vendors now have to trim 6.3 per cent off their asking prices so they can sell their homes. The figure was 5.7 per cent in April.
Apartment prices had withstood the momentum - a 5.1 per cent discount was required, compared to 5.2 per cent in April, said Australian Property Monitors.
Median house prices fell 2.07 per cent over the past three months, according to the first of the September quarter figures released by the providers of house price data.
Warehouse residence and studio . . . this former printing factory in Turtle Lane, Erskineville, sold for $1,325, 000.
Despite the decline, Residex puts the Sydney median house price at $663,000, an increase of 8.61 per cent over the year, said the chief executive of Residex, John Edwards.
He said the recent house price fall was more severe than the highest 1.9 per cent quarterly fall during the global financial crisis.
''We are expecting growth of 3.22 per cent per annum for houses over the next five years,'' he said, similar to the growth achieved in last five years.
Apartments did better, with a 0.58 per cent increase in the September quarter to a $467,500 median, for 9.55 per cent annual growth.
''Unaffordability is not at its worst position, although it is getting there, and will not take too many interest rate increases to reach the point where the Reserve Bank would need to exercise extreme caution,'' Mr Edwards said.
The weekend auction clearance rate in Sydney slipped slightly to 57 per cent on the 360 preliminary results. There was a 61 per cent success rate the previous weekend.
The inner west's selling strength remains relatively intact, with 70 per cent of the 48 properties sold, for a median price of $940,000.
The dearest inner-west sale was $1.45 million in Summer Hill. The three-bedroom house in Morris Street, on a 498-square-metre block, was last sold in 1987 for $145,000, reflecting 10 per cent annual growth.
The 1880s house, which had been extended and renovated, had been expected to fetch more than $1.2 million by its listing agent, Harris Tripp First National.
A warehouse in Turtle Lane, Erskineville, sold for $1,325,000. The two-level building on a 136-square-metre corner site was built in 1917 as a postmaster's storage. It was used as a printing factory from 1939 until 1991, when it was transformed into a residence and studio by the artist Yvonne Boag and her partner, Bob Jansen.
Inner-west sale prices started at $337,000 in Ashfield for a one-bedroom unit. It's previous sale was at $294,000 in 2002, reflecting a disappointing 1.6 per cent annual growth.
Several of the higher-priced inner-west listings failed to sell, including Llanarth, an imposing 1860 Burwood mansion on a 2208-square-metre block. The six-bedroom mansion was last sold for $960,000 in 1991.
The top-priced listing on the lower north shore also failed to find a buyer. The former software entrepreneur Simon Clausen rejected $4.5 million for his Kirribilli investment property. Burnleigh, a Carabella Street house built in 1875, on a 810 square metre block with landscaped grounds, is one of Kirribilli's most significant non-waterfront homes.
It was last sold for $3.98 million in 2008. It was rented in June last year for about $1950 a week. This month tenants were being sought willing to pay $2500 a week.
The cheapest lower north shore property sold was a $435,000 one-bedroom Mosman unit in a 1963 strata block. The 47-square-metre ground-floor flat on Bradleys Head Road was last sold for $355,000 in 2007, reflecting 7 per cent annual growth.
The pre-auction price equalled the sale of a matching first-floor unit in June.
In Sydney's south, the priciest house sold had been listed with $2.7 million hopes in March. The Kangaroo Point house found a buyer for $2,287,000. It was last sold in 2005 for $1.9 million, reflecting 3.4 per cent annual growth.
