Perth’s new apartment market recorded its strongest quarter of sales since Q4 2021, with 412 apartments sold in Q1 2026 and a record quarterly sold value of $537 million, according to Urbis’ latest Apartment Essentials results.

Urbis said the March quarter result reflects strong, highly product‑specific demand across both ends of the market, from more attainable projects delivering at scale, through to premium stock being absorbed by equity‑rich downsizers.&nbsp;

David Cresp, Partner at Urbis, said the key story in Perth is not demand, it is the market’s ability to convert demand into delivered housing.&nbsp;

“This is the strongest sales quarter since Q4 2021, and it reinforces that demand in Perth is real and it’s local,” David Cresp said. “But the task now is delivery, turning that demand into projects that can actually be built and completed.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=110291 project_image_fid=302785]

<h2>Affordable product leads, premium demand remains resilient</h2>

Sales in Q1 were led by more affordable projects, with The Boulevard (SKS Group) recording 115 sales in the quarter, the presentation noting this is only the second time a single project has surpassed 100 quarterly sales. The project was able to offer more affordable housing product right next to a train station.&nbsp;

Palmyra West (Finbar) also delivered strong results with 28 sales in Q1, following 84 sales in Q4, with an average price of under $800,000, underscoring depth of demand for well‑located, attainable new stock.&nbsp;

At the premium end, Urbis said downsizer demand is continuing, with the results highlighting Romeo (Applecross, Finbar) recording 75 sales and reaching almost 50% sold in one quarter.

Jual (Shenton Park, Celsius Property) also posted a strong quarter with 28 sales, reaching 39% sold in one quarter.

Urbis noted that Perth apartment demand is not speculative, not investor‑led, and not uniform, describing it as localised, often equity‑driven and highly product‑specific, a pattern reflected in the polarisation between strong “attainable” performers and premium downsizer product.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=148957 project_image_fid=364102]

<h2>Prices underpinned by costs, and the delivery risk is growing</h2>

Urbis said pricing pressure is cost not demand‑driven: construction costs and delivery risk are now a central constraint, with the results noting build costs remain elevated and volatile, and that energy, fuel and labour uncertainty weigh on feasibility.

David Cresp said a growing challenge for private Build‑to‑Sell developers is simply securing a builder in the current environment.

“Developers are really feeling the pressure from a building market that was operating at capacity and securing a builder is challenging,” David Cresp said, adding that even where a builder can be secured, “trying to get to the price that makes the development financially viable is incredibly challenging in the current market.”&nbsp;

Urbis’ broader WA commentary also notes that industry remains at or above capacity with lot and housing creation, and that many builders are limiting new sales to manage stretched workforces and fixed‑price contract pressures, conditions that flow directly into apartment feasibility and delivery timing.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108869 project_image_fid=317905]

<h2>Supply: improving later, but still constrained, and Perth lags eastern benchmarks</h2>

While near‑term supply remains constrained, Urbis’ forecast shows completions lifting “Supply is forecast to be back above 1,500 apartments per annum for the first time since 2019”, with 1,775 completions forecast for 2026, and volumes remaining above that level over the following years.&nbsp;

Looking further ahead, completions are forecast to reach 2,500 in 2028, with the report noting 32% of that total is social/affordable, reflecting the role of government‑supported delivery in rebuilding the pipeline.&nbsp;

However, Urbis said Perth remains behind comparable markets on pipeline scale. In a national comparison of projects under construction, the report shows under construction Perth Build‑to‑Sell (BTS) at 3,446 apartments versus the Gold Coast at 7,922. Mr Cresp said “The challenge for Perth is how to we grow the delivery pipeline”.

Urbis’ conclusion is that Perth’s market is increasingly defined by product discipline and delivery certainty, with the research identifying “delivery certainty is key” and calling out builder risk and procurement models as core success factors, alongside “timing and staging”.&nbsp;

Joel Robinson

Perth apartment sales hit strongest pace since late 2021 as builder capacity tightens

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sammut-developments">Sammut Group</a> has secured development approval for its latest Brisbane apartment project, marking the Sydney developer’s next step in expanding its Queensland pipeline following the success of its debut Gold Coast development, Coast.

The approved project at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/44-glen-road-toowong-qld-4066">44 Glen Road, </a><a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/toowong-qld-4066">Toowong</a> will deliver a 15-storey riverfront apartment building with 42 residences, significantly increasing the scale of the site’s previous approval for a smaller luxury scheme. Designed by Bureau^proberts, the development will comprise a mix of predominantly four-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments positioned to maximise Brisbane River and city views.

Sammut Director Julian Sammut said the group had been actively searching Brisbane for several years before identifying Toowong as the right fit.

“Brisbane was the right step for Sammut,” Sammut said.

“With the success of Coast we thought we should definitely look to do more in Queensland alone. We then pushed up to look at Brisbane. We've been looking for I'd say two to three years actually and it was hard to find the right location.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.14%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=dYAVIL7qdcGA8ojvkslSrLjczXFejSSx" />

Sammut said suburbs including New Farm and Teneriffe were considered before the group ultimately focused on Toowong due to its strong downsizer demographic and limited supply of developable riverfront land.

The site was acquired off-market after what Sammut described as a lengthy negotiation and planning process, with the developer pursuing an uplift to the original approval.

“We are DA approved now which is very exciting,” Sammut said.

“We've had our change approval come through and we've obviously doubled the height, 15 storeys plus rooftop. We've got 42 amazing apartments that are going to be coming to market soon.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,dpr_2.0,q_auto:good/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.26%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=ohkRkY0dIZlqdfME2EZePsCQavRiBadE" />

Bureau^proberts said the design responds to Toowong’s evolving urban character, balancing contemporary apartment living with the area’s established residential identity.

“A place where traditional Queensland living has taken place for centuries; Toowong is seeing a shift of contemporary influence, commercial and retail hubs mixed with well-considered residential offerings – all the while maintaining its character and charm,” the architect noted in planning documents submitted to Brisbane City Council.

The architecture practice said the project’s form was shaped by its riverfront setting, flood considerations, neighbouring building scales, and view corridors.

“They said the mix of four and two-bedroom apartments capture the ‘fundamental qualities of Queenslander living,’ translated into the context of a contemporary subtropical building.”

The development sits just off Coronation Drive within walking distance of Toowong’s retail precinct and the upgraded Regatta ferry terminal, while also benefiting from proximity to the incoming green bridge connection to West End. Sammut said the accessibility and amenity offering were central to the site’s appeal.

The approval adds to growing residential activity along the Toowong riverfront, joining nearby projects including Consolidated Properties’ Monarch Residences and Spyre Group’s ARC Residences.

Sammut secures approval for debut Brisbane apartment development in Toowong

Developer Lanevick is heading back into Sydney’s apartment market after focusing more heavily on the luxury townhouse and terrace sector in recent years.

Lanevick, founded and directed by Steve Maroun, is expecting to receive approval in the coming months for a new apartment development in Gladesville, with the aim to launch it to the market later this year.

The 51-apartment project, designed by Studio Johnston, will comprise a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments positioned toward the Hunters Hill downsizer market.

“Traditionally it’s been difficult for people in that market to downsize because there just hasn’t been the right product available,” Maroun said.

“We’re targeting buyers who might have 30 to 40 per cent of their house value sitting in the bank after downsizing.

“They still want good spacious entertaining areas, they still want quality design, but they also want flexibility and the ability to enjoy life a bit more after working hard for a long time.”

The project sits near Boronia Park and within close proximity to the Parramatta River foreshore, an area Maroun says offers more of a Hunters Hill lifestyle than a traditional apartment precinct.

“From a lifestyle perspective, it’s really more Hunters Hill than Gladesville,” Maroun said. “You’re close to the foreshore, close to parklands, and still connected back into the village precinct.”

From level four and above, apartments will capture water views&nbsp;toward Sydney Harbour. Communal amenity will include rooftop entertaining areas, wellness spaces, and a gym tailored toward owner-occupier buyers.

“We’ve really designed these apartments around that buyer coming from the Hunters Hill LGA and what they’re actually looking for in their next chapter.”

The proposed development has also been designed to respond to the changing character of the broader Gladesville town centre, where a growing number of mixed-use and residential proposals are expected to emerge over the coming years.

“Gladesville presented a rare opportunity to deliver a genuinely design-led residential project within an evolving lifestyle precinct, just moments from the growing Gladesville town centre, and we’ve approached the project with a strong focus on architecture, liveability and long-term community value,” Maroun said.

Maroun said Lanevick saw a first-mover advantage within the precinct as planning controls continue to evolve to accommodate greater housing density.

“We think there’s a real opportunity there that hasn’t really been serviced properly yet,” he said.

“There’s going to be a broader evolution of the whole Gladesville village precinct over time, particularly with more activation and mixed-use outcomes.”

The Venus Street proposal will include a commercial and retail component at ground level designed to contribute to that evolving streetscape activation.

“A big part of the thinking was how do you activate that area properly and create more vibrancy and amenity, which is what Hunters Hill has been looking for,” Maroun said.

Lanevick’s focus since 2020 has largely been on smaller-scale luxury townhouse and terrace developments. The developer recently completed Royale Randwick, also designed by Studio Johnston, where prices reached $3.65 million. The project was featured in the UDIA NSW 2026 Professional Development Prospectus and was also named a finalist for Development of the Year.

&nbsp;

Lanevick to cater for Hunters Hill downsizers with new Gladesville apartment development

Property developer One Living, backed by former Macquarie banker turned investment manager Chris Green’s investment firm, has unveiled plans to bring more institutional capital into housing to help address the national supply crisis.

The New York-based investor has focused his firm, GreenPoint Partners, on addressing the supply shortage hitting middle market housing in Australia.

It is backing the new One Living business to develop more than 1000 units along the eastern seaboard. The new firm is starting with a development on Mona Vale Road, on the border of Mona Vale and Pymble, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with around 140 apartments planned. They are eyeing off more sites across the city.

With cost pressures rising in the industry, One Living’s model is to be a vertically integrated developer-builder, so it can respond directly to the housing gap by removing the cost inefficiencies embedded in traditional residential delivery.

“We are building a platform designed to operate at scale and starting in a market where there’s a clear need for quality, attainable housing,” One Living joint managing director Joseph Scuderi said.

“It’s that missing middle – it’s that attainable end of housing… that’s what most Australians invest into and what Australians can actually afford.”

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="798dfa93-4941-4db6-a696-31e9dc18e81c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.31.50%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=mKBqi5C_DmeiXS.AtJkcR8LQIxqCqmFi" />

GreenPoint Partners brings years of experience assembling and scaling real estate operating businesses across major markets. And Green sees a big opportunity in Australia.

“For its size, sophistication and importance to the community, Australia’s living sector has remained largely under-institutionalised, which represents significant opportunity,” Green said. “GreenPoint identified that gap, assembled the right team, and is backing One Living to build a platform that is aligned to market needs.”

Green said being a builder-developer would give the company the capacity and flexibility it required to deliver reasonably-priced homes.

“We want it to be at that attainable level; not super high end luxury but at that attainable level,” he said.

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="74a5344a-4b26-4d4a-ada3-056b1220be77" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.32.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=vY8hXHO4reBMdO8ZXMWCNtGZJofUPQ3j" />

&nbsp;

One Living will undertake a component of affordable housing in its schemes, which it will own and operate, and it could also run build-to-rent on some sites.

Green praised local policy settings.

“The NSW government is being very supportive, strategic and pragmatic in terms of how do we generate more supply of housing,” he said. “We think it’s actually positive for development and the bit that’s been lacking at that attainable level is that it’s lots of relatively small private developers, whereas we want to create an institutional platform.”

One Living is also&nbsp;looking at high-density projects and could take on more institutional funding in the future.

“The way we will be able to achieve economies of scale is through size,” Green added.

One Living enters Sydney's new apartment market with Northern Beaches site acquisition

It's been several years since there's been an opportunity to buy a brand new townhome in Melbourne's coastal suburb of Mordialloc. Even apartment developments in recent times have been few and far between in the area.

Local developer LDS Property identified the gap in new housing, securing a site on White Street, directly opposite&nbsp;Woodlands Golf Club Mordialloc. They've recently launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-townhouses/wm-residences-mordialloc-102-white-street-mordialloc-vic-3195">WM Residences</a>, just 13 townhouses which they have already started building.

Projects by Buxton Director Heath Thompson, who is selling WM Residences, says the townhouses x that perfect middle ground be

"Mordialloc residents have had limited options to downsize within the suburb, often forcing them to look elsewhere despite long-standing ties to the area," Thompson says.

"With very little comparable new supply coming to market, projects like WM Residences are well placed, particularly as buyers look to capitalise on current conditions amid constrained supply."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6109]

The development, designed by regarded architecture firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/ewert-leaf">Ewert Leaf</a>,&nbsp;adopts a deliberately restrained architectural approach, focusing on simplicity, durability and liveability rather than overt design gestures.

The boutique scale is central to the offering. With only 13 three-bedroom residences, each home is configured to prioritise functional layouts and everyday use, supported by private terraces and secure two-car garages.

Ewert Leaf’s design response leans into a calm, neutral material palette. Interiors are defined by oak flooring, white walls and soft finishes, creating a consistent and understated backdrop. The approach avoids trend-driven detailing in favour of longevity, with an emphasis on natural light and spatial clarity.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6110]

Beyond aesthetics, the homes are designed to meet contemporary performance expectations. Each residence targets a minimum 6-star energy rating, incorporating double glazing, comprehensive insulation and all-electric Bosch appliances.

The project’s location supports a walkable coastal lifestyle, sitting within close proximity to Mordialloc’s foreshore, Main Street retail strip and the train station. Local cafés and dining venues, including Suburbia Deli and Hendriks Café, are within a short walk, reinforcing the area’s established neighbourhood character.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6116]

While <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/mordialloc-vic-3195">Mordialloc</a> is often defined by its beach and pier, the project taps into other areas of day to day living, offering easy access to local food, casual dining and transport, rather than positioning itself purely as a lifestyle retreat.

WM Residences reflects a continued trend across Melbourne’s coastal suburbs towards smaller-scale, design-led townhouse developments, particularly on infill sites where proximity to amenity is already established.

With construction commenced prior to its market entry, the project aligns with a growing preference among buyers for developments with visible progress and defined delivery timeframes.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134646]

WM Residences fills gap in Mordialloc townhouse market

Sydney Property

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Strap yourself in, because the Sydney property market is set to take off again. Just when investors started looking further afield and first home-buyers thought affordable prices and buyer’s market conditions would continue – experts have predicted that Sydney property prices could return to peak levels by 2022.
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Domain’s economists recently announced that Sydney’s property market has rebounded more strongly than expected on the back of recent interest rate cuts and price growth over the next 12 months is expected to be between five and 10 per cent.
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It isn’t too surprising that Sydney has bounced back quicker than expected. In addition to reduced borrowing costs, lending criteria has also eased and the Federal Election earlier in the year secured negative gearing tax incentives for investors with all of these factors contributing to improved market sentiment.
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Sydney property continues to outperform other capital cities due to its strong population growth, relatively low levels of unemployment and abundant job prospects.
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Investor appetite also remains strongest in Sydney with recent housing figures showing that 32 per cent of mortgage demand in NSW is from investors – much higher than that of any other state.
<div class="page" title="Page 1">According to the latest CoreLogic figures, Sydney is leading the national property recovery, along with Melbourne. While the average median dwelling value lifted just 0.9 per cent to $524,744 in September, median property values in Sydney jumped 1.7 per cent to $805,424.</div>
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Sydney dwellings have shown an overall increase of about 3.5 per cent over the last quarter.
Further price growth in Sydney is set to be fuelled by a drop in supply of new homes, with building approval numbers down. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, total unit dwellings approved has reduced by 25.9 per cent since August, 2018 with houses also down by 15.8 per cent.
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However, the good news is there is still time for all buyers to jump into the Sydney market while it is still relatively affordable.
For investors, the news is even better, with the potential to reap capital growth again in a relatively short period of time – providing they pinpoint growth locations and snap up property before further price hikes. This is something we didn’t expect to see again for a long time.
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Improvements to Sydney’s transport and infrastructure can dramatically reposition a suburb’s potential and must be factored into decision-making.
A great example is pockets of South Sydney that may have been considered sleepy suburbs for investors before could really start to kick off thanks to the Westconnex. Similarly improvements to our railway and light rail system also radically improve connectivity to other suburbs including in the North-West and West.
As always investors need to be savvy and engage professionals to ensure they clearly identify their investment goals and make sound investment decisions – as not all investment properties are equal and not all parts of Sydney will show the same levels of growth.
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James Nihill, Managing Director – Patrick Leo
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Sydney property set to be back on the boil: James Nihill 

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EXPERT OBSERVER
Media portrays Sydney as a market of universal and relentless decline, but our analysis shows there’s a lot more to the story. While sales activity and prices are down generally, there are many different scenarios playing out across the Greater Sydney Area. 
In Hotspotting’s latest quarterly survey of sales activity, we can find only three suburbs where sales activity is trending higher, but there are 90 suburbs with steady, consistent sales and a similar number of plateau markets (where activity has dropped from the peak but remains at solid levels).
And there are 61 suburbs classified as decline markets and 14 which we regard as danger markets, with the Sydney City, Parramatta, Bayside and Canterbury-Bankstown LGAs heading the list of markets to avoid.
Our analysis of 416 suburban markets in the Greater Sydney Area shows that 77% of them have median prices lower than a year so, while 23% have higher prices. Given the negative sensation about Sydney in mainstream media, many people would be surprised to learn that there are 95 Sydney markets where prices are not falling.
That includes 36 where median prices have risen by more than 5%, led by the top end of the Sydney market (suburbs with median prices above $2 million). Suburbs with median house prices above $2 million have recorded trend-defying growth, including Bellevue Hill (up 17%), Vaucluse (15%), Collaroy (22%), Palm Beach (17%), Artarmon (28%), Abbotsford (16%), Darling Point (12%) and Neutral Bay (17%), among others.
In another interesting trend that defies the general media rhetoric, there are 44 suburbs where the median house price is down but the media apartment price is up. This reflects the reality that many of the Sydney markets where prices have continued to grow against the overall trend are apartment precincts – it’s not happening across the board, but it’s a significant sub-plot in the Sydney market.
Our analysis of the Sydney market shows why the generalisations prevalent in media are so misleading for consumers. This Autumn survey has given ratings to 258 Sydney suburbs: 3 rising, 90 plateau, 90 consistency, 61decline and 14 danger markets. The absence of growth markets and the dominance of struggling ones is the over-riding trend, but there are other stories to be told in the Sydney market.
The strongest precincts are those that are displaying stubborn consistency of sales activity in the face of the general downturn.
The Sutherland LGA has two of only three rising suburbs (Jannali and Kirrawee), as well as five plateau and four consistency suburbs. The median price for Jannali units has risen 22% in the past year, while Kirrawee houses are up 3%. It’s notable that median prices for units have risen in many Sutherland suburbs, including Caringbah, Cronulla, Caringbah South, Gymea and Miranda, as well as Jannali.
Other precincts that are showing solidity, with plenty of consistency and plateau suburbs (and no decline or danger markets), including LGAs at the more affordable end of the market like Blacktown, Camden, Penrith, Wollondilly and Campbelltown.
The Blacktown LGA has one rising, three plateau and 10 consistency suburbs. A characteristic of this market is that median prices are down, but only a few percent in most suburbs – including Plumpton (-2%), Ropes Crossing (-2.3%), Schofields (-1.2%), Marsden Park (-0.4%), Blacktown units (-2%) and Mt Druitt units (-2.8%).
Other solid markets include the LGAs of Inner west, Northern Beaches, North Sydney,  Woollahra, Randwick and Fairfield.
Inner West suburbs where median prices are higher than a year ago include Annandale (units), Camperdown, Lilyfield, Rozelle (units), Dulwich Hill (units) and Stanmore (units).
Standout price performances in the steady Northern Beaches precinct include Collaroy, Narrabeen, Avalon Beach, Manly (units), Seaforth (units) and Newport (units).
The weakest precincts of the Sydney market are the LGAs of Parramatta, Sydney City, Bayside and Canterbury-Bankstown.
Parramatta has six suburbs which we classify as danger markets: those where sales activity is sharply down, prices are falling and vacancies are high. These suburbs are Carlingford, Epping, North Parramatta, Parramatta, Wentworth Point and Rosehill. This LGA also has six suburbs ranked as decline markets.
Median prices are down sharply for North Parramatta houses (20%), Parramatta houses (30%), and Rosehill units (22%).
Sydney City has seven declining suburbs and two danger markets (Haymarket and Waterloo).
The Canterbury-Bankstown LGA has nine suburbs classified as declining markets, based on a sharp decrease in sales activity over the past 12-18 months: Bankstown, Belmore, Campsie, Canterbury, Croydon Park, Lakemba, Padstow, Panania and Roselands.
Terry Ryder is the founder of hotspotting.com.au
<a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au">ryder@hotspotting.com.au</a>
twitter.com/hotspotting
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What's really going on in the Sydney real estate market? Hotspotting's Terry Ryder

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EXPERT OBSERVER
Although the official statistics suggest something slightly different, by my reckoning Sydney's housing market has now entered its third year of downturn.
<div>From a purely psychological point of view, this makes for a testing time for owners, and some may now choose to sell.  </div>
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<div>I'm interested in opportunities, but one of the challenges facing bargain-hunters - at least in the areas that are typically of most interest - is that Sydney's regional unemployment rates are as close to zero as you'll ever see. </div>
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<div>Click <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQj8VeqmxnU/XHhf4Egzx6I/AAAAAAAAuw4/_7pp0VW2TYcFLt_g8Pi1qPhoEz_JtIb6gCLcBGAs/s640/UE.jpg" target="_blank">here</a> to enlarge</div>
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<div>The cash rate setting is also at the lowest ever level, so there's little in the way of mortgage stress to report in inner Sydney, although tighter access to credit and the interest-only mortgage reset could smoke out some portfolio investors. </div>
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<div>And despite record levels of construction in recent years, Sydney doesn't really have a structural oversupply.</div>
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<div>What it does have, though, is a few concentrated gluts of apartment completions and projects hitting the market at the same time, which might give rise to some distressed sales or failed apartment projects. </div>
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<div>Pockets of pain</div>
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 My experience in Britain has taught me that sharp price falls are sometimes seen when the economy really turns bad, leading to rising unemployment and forced sellers - hardly a widespread problem facing Sydney at this point in time - and sometimes in the most supply-responsive areas.</div>
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<div>I spent a long time last week looking for bargains in the Sydney market, and in the east I couldn't find anything - I mean, not a single thing - that you might term a bargain, or anything even approximating to a bargain. </div>
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<div>I don't really know enough about Homebush, Parramatta, Blacktown, or Western Sydney to comment in any meaningful way.</div>
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<div>The best examples I could find of significant price declines, at least within 20 kilometres of the City, were mostly in areas zoned for higher-density housing or construction hotspots.</div>
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<div>Epping was a standout example, where scores of apartments were sold off the plan around 2014, and it's not too hard in that area to find examples of units for sale at well below the 'as new' price (although, interestingly, some have been advertised 'almost as new').</div>
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<div>Resale prices in some developments look likely to be up to 15 to 20 per cent lower than the off-the-plan price after an assumption for discounting is factored in.</div>
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<div>A high proportion of such apartments was bought by non-residents, and jt's probably fair to say that total return might not have been absolutely front of mind for some off the plan buyers. </div>
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<div>Locations around Epping and parts of the Hills District have experienced a huge surge in apartment completions in recent years. </div>
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<div>Finding a tenant would be hard work right now for landlords, which might encourage more sellers in 2019.</div>
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PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of AllenWargent property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogger</a>. </div>
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Where are the Sydney property bargains? Pete Wargent

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The Sydney property developer Sid Londish, the 94 year old giant of the property industry, has died.
He still had all his charm when we last caught up in Milsons Point, one of the many suburbs that he helped transformed through the decades. He'd walked across from his Grandview apartment.
The raconteur wanted to talk about his plan for a $130 million residential retirement devel­opment at Woodend, 70km from Melbourne.
Always sharply dressed in a navy reefer jacket, often with cashmere cardigan, along with personalised cuff links, and gold watch, the ever forthright Londish was a true pioneer of the industry.
"I like being out in front,'' said Londish of his 60 plus years in property. He was the grandfather of the industry, taking over the mantle from Sir Paul Strasser in 1989.
I first came across him in 1986 when he paid $11 million for the air space above the Kings Cross tunnel with his initial plans to construct a luxury 500-room international hotel on the one hectare site sold by the NSW Department of Main Roads site. He was, at the time, a 62-year-old self made millionaire, who shunned my comparison to any likeness to Blake Carrington, the coiffured oil mogul from the then hit television series, Dynasty.
The workaholic, thick-skinned property developer was born in April 1924 at Tientsin, in northern China, arriving in Australia as an 11 month old. His British father, who had come to Australia in 1885 as a 17 year old, had been in China to set up a typewriter factory where he'd met his Russian wife.
His father introduced him to the phrase from Euripides: "Men honor property above all else; it has the greatest power in human life."
He pioneered a range of visionary commercial and residential property developments across Sydney. 
He'd built NSW's first shopping centre at St Ives in 1960, then went onto develop Australia's first village-style shopping centre in Kings Cross. There was the 1963 Southside Plaza, the £800,000 development which included the popular Rockdale Bowl.
In the early 1980s he developed the Tower Square Village at North Sydney which SMH writer Valerie Lawson noted was aimed at people with plenty of disposal income and were attracted by glitter and glamour. The Big Bear office and retail complex in Neutral Bay came in the late 1980s too.
He developed the Hunter Connection, the major pedestrian retail food court thoroughfare to Wynyard Station, where retailers are currently unhappy with how Brookfield is dealing with the pending redevelopment distruption.
Then it was creating Australia's first bulky goods Supa Centre at Moore Park in 1993. Then there was the redevelopment proposal for the opposite corner, The Reschs Brewery site.
In 1988 Londish's Comrealty Ltd and the Japanese firm, EIE Developments, headed by Dr Bungo Ishizaki, unveiled plans for an $850 million office block to be built on the site of Sydney's first Government House.
The Young Street project would be "as important in Sydney as the Bond Centre is in Hong Kong," he noted. They are now the prestigious Governor Phillip and Macquarie towers in the CBD.
There were the Ritz Carlton hotel projects. Australia's first Ritz-Carlton was established when Londish constructed it on Macquarie Street in the late 1980s for Japanese millionaire singer, Masao Sen.
His prestigious residential developments included Pulpit Point at Hunters Hill; No. 9 Elamang Avenue, Kirribilli; The Wintergarden Apartments, Rose Bay, Grandview Apartments, Milsons Point among many others.
These all had such extravagance which are now actually the norm. 
Londish pioneered the luxury trend on the Kirribilli waterfront in the early 1980s. It was long before the term empty nester was conceived. His low rise residential building - in the grand southern Mediterranean tradition and finished with Corinthian scrolls and balustrades - was designed by architect Michael Stanley. The six apartments, with north-east aspect over Careening Cove, originally fetched about $500,000 each. In 1990 prestige apartment specialist Andrew Macluran sold one for $3.5 million, setting a record price for a North Shore apartment and an Australian record for a resale apartment. 
Londish had a policy of living in his own buildings, proclaiming he was not frightened to be in daily contact with his fellow occupants.
"That's how confident I am of presenting a quality product." 
There were certainly failings, financially and in his relationships. 
In Woolloomooloo, his joint initiative with the Moscow Narodny Bank came unstuck in the 1970s recession. He was undone again in the 1990s recession.
But his enduring legacy includes pushing for the development of Sydney's third runway, as chairman of the Sydney Convention and Tourist Bureau.
"The government has a responsibility to tell us why we can't have it and I'm not talking about saving someone's bloody arse in Parliament," he forthrightly said, referring to the Minister for Aviation Support, Gary Punch, whose constituency was near the airport.
Much earlier he was apparently creating and operating Australia's first offshore oil rig too. And sand mining at Lithgow.
In 1986 the extraordinary specimen of a Plesiosaur was found partially preserved in opal.
Londish purchased the damaged specimen and then employed Australian palaeontologist Paul Willis to reconstruct the sea beast. 
The opal mining machinery had crushed the skeleton into hundreds of fragments with Londish having the idea that he would donated it to the Australian Museum under the Tax Incentives for the Arts scheme.
Paul Willis, then a doctorate student, but later to become a Quantum presenter on the ABC, spent some 450 hours joining all the broken fragments together. 
Liking light opera, he was credited as assisting Paul Keating's pursuit of opera. He once told how he often gave Keating "fatherly advice" until they lost contact after falling out over fringe benefits tax.
Londish's linkedin profile indicated his education was "the school of hard knocks." 
Sid Londish often recalled "poverty everywhere" growing up in harbourside Woolloomooloo.
He got his first job aged nine filling nail polish bottles being paid sixpence fornine-hour shifts.
In 2015 he kindly participated in a school program at Plunkett Street Public School – Me, You and Woolloomooloo – which gleaned first-hand history of the suburb when Year 4, 5 and 6 students conducted interviews.
Londish spent about $20 million buying Woolloomooloo terrace slums and proposed a $400 million redevelopment in the early 1970s, seeking a 12:1 floor space ratio. The locals dubbed him "Quick Quid Sid."
His overly ambitious Woolloomooloo proposal came after he met one of his mentors, Daniel K. Ludwig, a fabulously wealthy shipping magnate, and richest man in the USA, who created the upscale suburban communities of Westlake Village in California.
By 1974 after two years of green bans, Londish’s backers withdrew, forcing Londish’s company Regional Holdings to abandon the project.
Some two decades earlier the Londish family's Woolloomooloo engineering workshop had closed two years after Prime Minister Robert Menzies scrapped the engineering depreciation allowance in 1950.
In the early 1990s SMH writer Deirdre Macken wrote his face went purple whenever he spoke of planners, council officers, and bureaucrats.
The Weekend Australian journalist Kate Legge wrote of him three years ago in a feature on 90 plus year olds who were living life to the max.
Describing him as "tall, with a weathered countenance, gold-rimmed glasses, combed furrows of white hair and a cautious gait, his appearance belies an indefatigable zest for the next big wave."
That was endeavouring to create a better lifestyle for elderly Australians with his new concept in aged living resorts.
After a lifetime building city towers, golf courses and shopping centres, he was hell bent on a mission to revolutionise aged care because the places he'd visited horrified him.
"I thought, 'If this is going to be my old age, I'd shoot myself'." 
She described Londish as a poster boy for the idea of "active" ageing underpinning the Intergenerational Report.
Londish, the ex-RAAF pilot in PNG, had a vision for aged care.
He envisaged serviced offices at his retirement village proposal.
"On offer will also be lectures on financial planning, how to update your computer skills, and many more courses to ensure guests have something to do both physically and mentally every day."
"I know what old people need and they need two things.
"First of all they can't be lonely. They need to be mixing with people and doing things every day.
"The second thing is if you don't keep your mind and body active you'll become a vegetable, so this place is all about living. It's all about getting out of bed and having something to do. I do this myself. I swim for half an hour every morning, it keeps everything moving; it allows me to turn my head when I'm driving."
Reinventing aged care became his mission after visiting a former golfing buddy who'd retired, sold the family home and moved with his wife into assisted living units with a central lounge.
"We went into this room and it smelt of death, like a repository. They were all sitting around watching each other die. So I came to the conclusion that this is not the way for elderly people to live. I started to look around and the more I saw, the more I was horrified.
"If ever my kids put me into one of those, I've had the richard.'' 
But his grand plans for deluxe retirement villages never quite got there.
Initially there was a 20ha site at Campbelltown in Sydney's west in 2003 where he drew up plans for 1000 apartments.
"It was the first time in my life that I've left council with a standing ovation," he chuckles. But his partners took a quick profit and sold up.
Next he chased a bigger parcel of land in Sydney's north at Oxford falls but the council blocked his proposal through the Land and Environment Court.
"They're all frightened of aged care but I'm telling you it's the biggest problem coming in this country. Not one of the politicians can see it coming. If they do not wake up soon we're going to be so far behind."
He was just as fortnight in 1991 at the Royal Commission into Building Industry Productivity addressing the disruption on his trouble-plagued Premier Apartments site at North Sydney.
The cost of the project blew out from $22 million to $58 million and took twice as long as scheduled.
"A couple of unionists got sand in their meat pies up on the 11th floor," Londish told the commission.
"Strike.
"They all walked off the job.
"I got so frustrated with that job I could not bear to look at it because every time I did I used to get ulcers." Mr Londish said.
He work from his his earliest days to the end this week.
"They'll cart me out of here with my shoes on," he told me as he turned 65 in 1989, with no plans for retirement.
It was in 1957 when Londish's father, who lived until 96, sent him to America in search of new products for their reduced engineering business.
Sitting next to him on the flight to San Francisco was the manager of a Melbourne grocery chain on a trip to investigate cash registers.
"I had no idea what he was talking about but was interested to know more," he recalled to Legge.
"We went to this place called a supermarket where we met the manager who showed me the pre-packaging machines that bagged sugar, cut up butter, cellophane-wrapped tomatoes ... I saw shoppers selecting products from shelves and carrying them to a checkout basket at 10pm at night and I was stunned."
Londish came back and constructed the supermarket at St Ives in 1960.
"Sweetie," he told Kate Legge, "it's all about keeping your brain working. I'm still physically, intellectually and sexually active and I want this for everybody else."
"What I want to leave is a legacy," he says. 
"I want to give old people something better. They will live longer, happier lives and they'll have fewer medical problems. Why? Because they won't get depression sitting on their bum at home which is mostly what happens when their partners die. They watch bloody television until they get to the stage where they have to go into a nursing home."
In 1990 he participated in the documentary done by the Beyond 2000 reporters Simon Reeve, Amanda Keller and Ian Finlay that took a look at the future of the Lucky Country.
Australia 2020, the TV documentary produced by Tim Worner and Peter Abbott, had Londish warning about Australia's apathy and tendency to be "great muddlers."
He feared it would lead to a situation in the year 2020 of where "we're eating bread and jam again . . . or dripping."
The reviews suggested Londish was one of the more outspoken characters on the program.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Veteran visionary property industry developer Sid Londish dies

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Sydney buyers are certainly spoilt for choice, but there are emerging signs the listings surge of the past year is waning.
There are 27,000 properties currently for sale by private treaty across the Sydney market.
That's a lot on offer, indeed around 25% more than last May, according to CoreLogic.
Interestingly the 7,000 fresh listings in the past month sits 10% down on the same time last year.
That suggests the last ditch rush to sell is slowing after Sydney's cooling conditions have grabbed the headlines and ebbed into realistic conversations. 
There ought be an increased realisation among prospective vendors that the chance to cash in at peak prices has likely passed.
Vendor expectations are increasingly not being met, except for premium listings across the suburbs. A-grade stock is still selling well, through private treaty and at or before auction.  
Many of the 27,000 current private treaty offerings will not be sold this time around because their vendor missed the market peak that they hoped to capitalise on.
They might linger on websites and in estate agent windows, but pointlessly if they aren't repriced to sell in the current and emerging market.
These listings will hang around making up the estate agent's expansive inventory as we head into the winter hibernation.
Stale listings are much harder to sell since the keenest knowledgable buyers have typically moved on after their initial marketing. 
These stale listings ideally need to be withdrawn to try another time.
Meanwhile the number of sales has eased according to official NSW Office of State Revenue data. 
In March there were 16,950 property transfers, the quietest for four years as buyers become pickier, taking their time without the fear of missing out.
Last March, which didn't have the Easter interruption until mid-April, had 19,500 transfers. The March stamp duty revenue for the state government was $642 million compared to $701 million.
There were 49,000 sales in the first three months of 2018, compared to 52,000 early last year, with the soon to be advised April tally to help the state government shape its upcoming budget.
If these early readings become a marked trend, there won't be anywhere near as much revenue available for the government to spend.
The discussion about the listings and sales in the market is premised that there is choice for all participants.
Certainly arrears and mortgagee sales are at low levels.
The elephant in the room is bank lending which has increasingly restrained buyer capacity.
Just this week the Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Guy Debelle indicated there was a "risk" of even further tightening in lending standards ahead.
"This may have its largest effect on the amount of funds an individual household can borrow, more than the effect on the number of households that are eligible for a loan," he noted while adding that has implications for house prices."
This article first appeared in The Daily Telegraph. 
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Sydney listings look like they're on the wane

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Sydney's consistent performers, the eastern suburbs and northern beaches, both failed to hit a 70% clearance rate having been previously sitting nicely at 80% each last week.
They haven't both dropped below 70% since last year.
It was the inner west which was the stand out performer at 72%. It was the only sub-region to secure over 70%.
Click here <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2018/4/30/syd-regions.jpg" target="_blank">to enlarge.</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/4/30/syd-regions.jpg" alt="">
Sydney dropped below 60% for the first time since late last year.
The rate did drop below 60 in the first weekend of February 2018, but only 200 auctions were scheduled, with no dwellings coming from the likes of the eastern suburbs and northern beaches.
Click here <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2018/4/30/capitals3.jpg" target="_blank">to enlarge.</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/4/30/capitals3.jpg" alt="">
Auction volumes rose this week, with nearly another 800 dwellings up for auction.
There were 2,539 properties taken to auction this week compared to 1,799 last week.
The clearance rate nudged 0.3% higher from 62.2% to 62.5%.
 
 
 
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jrobinson-rf4aSBido9

Sydney slips below 60% as consistent performers struggle

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GUEST OBSERVER
A key goal of the City of Sydney, one of Australia’s wealthiest local governments, is to deliver “a range of affordable and social housing options that reﬂects the diversity of ages, family relationships, socio-economic backgrounds and employment ﬁelds in the local population”. Our research includes in-depth analysis of the experiences of local governments with housing, among them the City of Sydney. This article examines what the city council is doing to provide more affordable housing and the obstacles, which include federal and state government policies, to achieving its targets.
The city council has committed to ensuring that “by 2030, of all housing in the [Local Government Area] 7.5% will be social housing and 7.5% will be affordable housing delivered by ‘not-for-proﬁt’ or other providers”. In absolute numbers this translates to 10,500 social housing units and 10,500 affordable homes.
The major challenge is providing affordable rental housing. It is projected that by 2030 there will be at least 138,000 dwellings in the inner-city area administered by the City of Sydney. That’s an increase of nearly 40,000 from 98,012 dwellings in 2014. To achieve the 7.5% affordable housing target, another 9,700 affordable rental homes need to be built by 2030.
Despite the city council’s best intentions, the affordable and social housing stock has hardly grown over the last decade. The social housing stock has increased from 9,397 in 2007 to 9,561 dwellings in June 2017. Affordable rental housing has gone from 447 to 835 dwellings.
The council recognises the constraints of the policy environment in which it is working. Its documents often refer to how federal and state government policies limit the local government’s capacity to improve housing affordability. The city clearly realises that: "The Commonwealth government and the state governments … control the macro-economic and taxation policies that most affect the cost of housing."
Another document emphasises: "State planning laws affect the ways that local governments can supply housing."
The City of Sydney uses the following overlapping mechanisms to increase the affordable housing supply: levies on developers; voluntary planning agreements; and selling land “at a subsidy”.
Developer levies
Developer levies are the key mechanism the council uses to increase the number of affordable homes.
State law enables the use of an affordable housing levy. The city notes that Section 94F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 “allows for the collection of contributions for affordable housing”. The provisions allow for either land or monetary contributions for affordable housing.
To date, the state government has allowed the city to levy developers in only three localities – Green Square, Ultimo-Pyrmont and “southern employment lands”. Over time it is expected the levies in these three areas will yield 2,300 affordable homes.
The levy rate in Green Square and the southern employment lands is set at 3% of total residential floor space and 1% of non-residential floor space. For Pyrmont-Ultimo it is 0.8% of residential floor space and 1.1% of non-residential floor space.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has urged the state government to extend the developer levy. She has argued that not allowing the levy city-wide was a “tremendous missed opportunity”.
Moore has advocated for a 30% affordable housing target for public land and 15% for developments on private land. It is evident that restricting the developer levy to just a few locations and to 3% makes this target impossible to attain.
Voluntary planning agreements
A voluntary planning agreement (VPA) is “an agreement entered into by a planning authority and a developer”. Under this agreement a developer can agree to fund affordable housing. This can be done through “the dedication of land, monetary contributions, construction of infrastructure [and] provision of materials for public benefit and/or use”.
The City of Sydney uses such planning agreements “to negotiate affordable housing provision through major developments”.
For example, a VPA for a A$1.1 billion development, 1,250 units in Forest Lodge, involved the developer agreeing to supply land for affordable rental apartments for low and moderate income earners. The city then sold the land to City West Housing, a community housing provider, at a discounted price. City West plans to build 76 affordable housing units on this land.
The money from the land sale goes into a “city fund dedicated to delivering more affordable developments across the local area”.
Discounted land sales to community housing providers
Selling land at a subsidised price to community housing providers is a key strategy. The City of Sydney sells the land on the proviso that it is used solely for affordable housing in perpetuity.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211657/original/file-20180323-54887-1k8sdva.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
The Exordium Apartments were built on part of the old South Sydney Hospital Site, which Sydney City sold to City West Housing. Alan Morris, Author provided
In 2014, a disused hospital site was sold to City West Housing. City West built just over 100 affordable housing units there. The development was completed in 2016.
More recently, the City sold 8,900 square metres of land in Alexandria, an inner-city suburb, to community housing providers. The major buyer, City West Housing, plans to build 200 homes there.
A major barrier to affordable housing supply in the inner city has been the state government’s reluctance to agree that affordable housing should be a sizeable proportion of the housing to be built on state owned or controlled land that is being renewed.
UrbanGrowth NSW, the state’s primary urban transformation agency, is redeveloping significant tracts of state land in the Sydney City area. However, almost all of the envisaged new housing on UrbanGrowth sites at this stage appear to be geared towards middle-class households. A highest-return-for-the-land motif is driving planning decisions.
The conclusion is clear: if local government is to create a sizeable affordable housing sector it is vital that the state and federal governments play a major role. Local governments, however powerful and well resourced, cannot do it by themselves.
Alan Morris, Research Professor, University of Technology Sydney
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mission-nearly-impossible-the-city-of-sydneys-efforts-to-increase-the-affordable-housing-supply-93366" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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The City of Sydney's efforts to increase the affordable housing supply is mission nearly impossible: Alan Morris

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There is little doubt the Sydney auction market has started out a lot better in February, than it finished off last December.
At this stage, four weeks in, the positivity has been more evident from the auction clearance rate being on the rise, than prices making any advances.
February typically suffers none of the inbuilt end of year fatigue. Saturday's preliminary clearance sat at over 70 percent.
You never know, but prices could spurt again, especially if our fresh stock levels stay low after the upcoming early Easter break, and the banks begin to ease up on their lending.
It would not be a second wind for prices, because we've already seen that many times, just when the market seemed destined to head backwards.
Sydney is highly resilient when it comes to property price momentum, often catching forecasters out of step.
I was thinking of the contributing mix, intrinsic and not so, when I popped a few questions to Harry Dent, one of the world’s most controversial economic futurists.
He is currently touring Australia. Last time he toured in 2014, Dent's worst case scenario was for a post-China bubble burst impacting on Sydney with property prices possibly set to collapse by as much as 60 percent.
His controversial forecasts were labelled as scaremongering by many commentators including Chris Joye.
Dent's earlier 2011 crash forecast also saw the founder of wealth manager Yellow Brick Road Mark Bouris counter the claims. 
In 2011 on David Koch’s Sunrise program, Dent urged viewers to sell their homes before the 50 percent crash in prices arrived at their doorsteps after a China crash hits our shores.
He will be pursuing the same message this time around.
I told Dent that dwelling prices in Sydney now sit at around a $895,000 median, up from $610,000 in early 2014.
The median represents a significant 46 percent rise since Dent's last warning, and an 80 percent rise since his 2011 warning.
Pressed by me, Dent admits he was wrong through he sticks to the yet-to-occur outcome, merely adjusting the timing of his dire forecast.
"I was wrong, how about that," he said.
"I'm early."
Australia will burst whenever the China bubble bursts, he says.
Dent warns many won't see it coming, and adds that real estate, unlike the stockmarket, won't have any easy escape route, and its recovery will take much longer.
"This is not a normal bubble," he suggests noting the global real estate bubble had extended well beyond typical lengths.
He argues the global bubble has been caused by central banks printing money, not just low interest rates.
Dent says suggests central banks can't keep printing money for ever.
"What's not different is by every measure, is these are bubbles.
"Chinese real estate is a bubble.
"The Sydney real estate is a bubble." 
"Better to get out a little early," he will be telling his 2018 audiences.
This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph
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Harry Dent says he was early with his dire Sydney price collapse forecast

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Residential accommodation options in middle Sydney have hit a five year high, according to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales.
The January 2018 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey saw availability in middle Sydney up 0.3 percentage points to 2.9%.  “This is the highest level since August 2012 when the vacancy rate for middle Sydney was at 3.0%, REINSW President Leanne Pilkington said.   “The area has seen a significant increase in available stock and a decline in applications,” she added. 
In inner Sydney vacancy rates rose 0.1 percentage points to 2.1%, while outer Sydney slipped 0.1 percentage points at 2.2%. The vacancy rate across metropolitan Sydney rose 0.1 percentage points at 2.3%. 
The Hunter is also seeing vacancy rates of more than five years ago, although this time at the lowest levels, after it fell 0.2 percentage points at 1.5%.
Newcastle led the decline with a drop of 0.4 percentage points at 1.3%, a level last recorded in November 2012 when the rate was at 1.2%. 
In the Illawarra, vacancy rates rose 0.2 percentage points to 1.9%. Wollongong was up 0.8 percentage points at 2.5%. 
Across regional areas, New England and Coffs Harbour rose 0.5 and 0.7 percentage points respectively to 2.5%, while Northern Rivers fell 0.1 percentage points at 0.8%.
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Middle Sydney sees vacancy rate at five year highs

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Where are the early bird 2018 vendors?
Saturday saw 175 or so auction, down on the 215 offerings on the same Saturday last year.
Total new listings around Sydney in the past 28 days are down by around 10 percent on last year, suggesting prospective vendors aren't rushing the market with listings.
Perhaps they've quickly appraised high levels of unsold stock from last year might be a weight on the 2018 market.
CoreLogic calculate unsold Sydney stock from last year at 20,000 plus, up 23 percent on last January, meaning much more choice for buyers than this time last year.
Negative headlines - along with the ensuing confirmatory chat around the backyard summer bbqs - do have the capacity to undermine our collective psyche.
With Easter early this year, I'd expected the listing momentum to be well underway.
January numbers are always low, and often hard to read the market direction, but last week saw just 38 auctions compared to 84 in the prior January 2017 period.
It is possible that the optimistic rush that starts off most auction years may not emerge as much as is traditionally the case.
Maybe discretionary vendors don't think it is quite the right time to test the market, or maybe they wish to list off-market utilising agency buyer databases to test price strength.
The housing market downturn data that emerged late last year, and continued this week, certainly had the potential to un-nerve the Sydney property market. 
But I do love February auction clearance rates.
They are always much stronger than where the prior year left off.
December auctions saw a fatigued 54 per cent clearance rate, according to CoreLogic.
The auction success rate declined through what was the bumper spring selling season and then into early summer.
The mood shifted from crazy to cautious over the year.
Last February there was an 79 percent opening month auction success rate which was up on the December 2016 close of 73 per cent.
Through the years there have been even bigger new year rebounds. 
February 2016 had a 75 per cent success rate as against the 55 percent in December 2015.
There was another huge turnaround coming out of the global financial crisis over summer with the December 2008 success rate being 42 percent but 63 percent in February 2009.
Confident starts after the summer break are or course no guarantee that the entire year remains strong.
When deciding just how to list your home this year, best ask your panel of prospective listing agents not only how they went last year, but contrast their results against the overall suburban trend.
Let's not forget home owners are still substantially wealthier from housing in Sydney, and even with the recent mild declines still slightly up over the past year.
Certainly the days of those double digit annual gains for the Sydney housing market are gone. 
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But this is not to say 2018 won't be a healthy market for your offering. 
This article was first published in The Saturday Daily Telegraph.
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