As a roaring spring begins, where are home prices headed?
It’s a busy weekend for Australian residential property as confidence returns amid steadying interest rates
3 min
Spring is here and so too is one of the busiest auction weekends of the year, with vendors feeling confident and buyers out in force – a trend economists expect to continue.
Research firm CoreLogic reports a whopping 2401 homes are set to go under the hammer across the country on Saturday, up 5.4 percent on last weekend and the third largest volume of 2023 thus far.
“Auction activity across Sydney is set to exceed 1000 for the second time this year, with 1010 homes currently scheduled to go under the hammer this week… up 16.5 percent,” CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said.
Strong momentum in property markets continues to defy expectations.
About this time last year, most pundits were predicting steep price falls throughout 2023 on the back of soaring interest rates.
Instead, values rose for the sixth consecutive month in August, up 0.8 per cent nationally and now 4.9 per cent higher since bottoming out in February, data released today shows.
Sydney has led the recovery trend, with a rise of 8.8 per cent since prices found a floor at the start of 2023, while Brisbane has also seen values jump 6.2 percent in that time.
Cameron Kusher, director of economic research at data house PropTrack, said the “better-than-expected price growth” had reversed virtually all the declines seen in the backend of 2022.
“Property prices have increased despite rising interest rates and reduced borrowing capacities,” Mr Kusher said.
“From here, the direction of the housing market will likely be influenced by the volume of housing stock available for sale. Low volumes of new and existing properties persisted In June, but this may soon change.”
PropTrack’s newest Property Market Outlook report has forecast national home prices to be between 2 percent and 5 percent higher by the end of the year.
It is a marked turnaround on a previous prediction of a fall of between 7 percent and 10 percent, Mr Kusher said.
“Forecasts for 2024 are considerably more difficult, given the uncertainty of many factors. At this stage, we are forecasting modest price growth in 2024.
“However, significant changes to the overall economic performance, interest rates or lending conditions, could result in vastly different price growth outcomes.”
He predicts prices nationally could be up to 3 percent higher by the end of 2024, with modest growth across most capitals, including up to 2 percent in Sydney and up to 3 percent in Melbourne.
Domain’s recently released Forecast Report is a tad more optimistic, predicting the housing market will be in a “well-established, steady recovery” by mid-next year.
“House prices in Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart will record the largest gains,” the report predicts.
Forecasts are for house prices in Sydney to end the current financial year up to nine per cent higher, with modest growth in Melbourne of up to two per cent and a rise in Brisbane of up to 4 percent.
“House prices in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and the combined capitals will be at a new record high [while] Brisbane house prices will be close to a new record high,” the report predicts.
Strong population growth is set to put “greater and more immediate pressure” on housing demand, which sees an additional 300,000 dwellings needed to meet needs.
“Typically, overseas migrants rent on arrival, but, with a tight rental market Australia-wide, we may see some arrivals transition to home ownership sooner as they seek more stable housing alternatives.
“This is occurring at a time the construction industry has experienced unprecedented headwinds – skills shortages, supply chain disruptions, and soaring construction costs.”
While prices are expected to rise, affordability pressures, high interest rates and restrictive serviceability buffers will contain the pace of growth, the report reads.
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The penthouse unit at 80 Columbus Circle in Manhattan spans 8,000 square feet and once set a price record for the city.
2 minEight is definitely someone’s lucky number—especially when a few zeros are tacked on at the end.
The top-floor unit of the 80-storey 80 Columbus Circle in Manhattan is coming to market for the first time in more than 20 years and asking a nice round $80 million.
The full-floor unit spans over 8,000 square feet and is part of the Mandarin Oriental Residences above the hotel in the Deutsche Bank Center. It has eight rooms with eight ensuite baths, each with its own walk-in shower.
It last sold in 2005 for a hair under $30 million to cosmetics executive Sandie Tillotson, a founding member and senior vice president at the Utah-based Nu Skin Enterprises. She agreed to purchase the unit in 2001 while the complex was under development as the Time Warner Center.
Today, the six-bedroom apartment features spacious living areas and views from every room, including a close-up view of Central Park and panoramic 360-degree vistas stretching to the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, according to listing agent Eva J. Mohr of Sotheby’s International Realty.
“There are windows all the way around,” Mohr said. “The views are spectacular and there are no obstacles in front of the windows.
The apartment comes with a library and cinema, a primary bedroom with its own lounge, an oversized kitchen, a corner breakfast area with two glass walls and a utility room with caterer-level equipment and two sinks—one for prepping flowers and the other for bathing pets.
The 80th-floor unit has never been resold and was rarely used by the seller, according to information provided by the listing agency. The corresponding top-level unit in the complex’s second tower just sold. That unit once belonged to Related Companies boss Stephen Ross and sold for $50.7 million in an off-market deal last week.
“The one that went for $55 (sic) million was completely redone with marble and it was beautiful, but you don’t have the views,” Mohr said.
When Tillotson bought the property, the $30 million contract was a record price for a condominium, according to the New York Times. In 2005, the apartment was delivered as “8,200 square feet of raw space” and Tillotson brought her own team to do the interiors, the Times reported.
Tillotson’s Nu Skin is a seller of anti-ageing and wellness products that was founded in the 1980s and is active in more than 50 international markets, particularly in China. The publicly traded company has also recently expanded into India. Nu Skin has several thousand permanent employees at its Provo, Utah, headquarters as well as tens of thousands of salespeople worldwide.
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