Curtis Associates

The Sydney residential property market over $1.5 million. Nobody much feels like dancing

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Following the near disappearance of the Euro debt crisis from the headlines and anecdotal evidence of increased activity and auction clearance rates associated with a likely drop in the official cash rate, it seems like an ideal time to assess the impact of the past 12 months of turbulence on the Sydney housing market above $1.5 million by comparing a snap shot of this month’s activity against the same month last year.

Got more than $4 million to spend on a house in Sydney? Then consider Mosman but be quick

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Something strange happened this month at the top end of Sydney’s property market in Mosman. Life returned and did it with a vengeance.

According to research carried out by Curtis Associates, there were nine Mosman house sales above $4 million this month which, given the post GFC malaise, was remarkable per se and even more so when it is considered that this turnover was just one sale shy of the number of such sales recorded over the entire five months since 1 October 2011.

Sydney’s property market awakes in 2012 to find the devil is in the details

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:00:00 GMT

If proof were needed that buying property is a risky business, one needs look no further than the first few weeks of activity in the 2012 Sydney property market.

As discussed below, the devil is in the details which in some cases paint a very different picture to the one often conveyed by mainstream media and macro analytical research houses via their weekly reports of stable auction clearance rates, median property prices and regular private treaty deals.

The Sydney residential property market - 2011 market wrap and predictions for 2012 as Europe holds the key above $1 million

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Mainstream commentators this month described Sydney’s property market as having run out of puff despite and as predicted in CurtiseCall’s December 2010 market wrap, cuts in the official interest rate. This conclusion was based largely on so called “plunging” auction clearance rates recorded by Australian Property Monitors during the three Saturdays of this month before Christmas Eve with the following extracts from Dr. Andrew Wilson’s weekly article in the Sydney Morning Herald on 19 December 2011 being typical of such commentary:

“…buying activity [was] in full retreat over the past month”…
“…[with] the continued stagnant nature of the prestige property market…the market is being supported by significant numbers of first home home buyers”…

Forced sales in the Sydney property market – rich pickings for investors?

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:00:00 GMT

In the search for buying opportunities, Curtis Associates, buyers’ agents in Sydney, noticed a trend which began in October 2011 in the number of Sydney residential and commercial and retail properties being advertised for sale by mortgagees, receivers and managers. Such sales are collectively known as “forced sales” and the interesting trends identified during this month in which such sales spiked are the focus of this edition of CurtiseCall.

Buyers beginning to win the arm wrestle in Sydney’s residential property market

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Although auction clearance rates in the Sydney property market for October 2011 were broadly in line with previous months this year, there was an unmistakable sense around the auctions and in negotiations that buyers in the $1 million plus bracket were at last beginning to prevail over previously stubborn vendors now prepared to meet the market.

Have Sydney property prices doubled in the past seven to 10 years?

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:00:00 GMT

It is often said in property circles that house prices in Australia double every seven to 10 years. Prompted in part by the fact that September 2011 marks the seventh anniversary of a relatively sharp downward correction in Sydney housing prices following a boom which peaked around 2003, we thought we would test that proposition by analysing all reported September 2011 sales over $1 million of Sydney houses or units purchased in the last 10 years to see what capital gains or losses were made by the vendors of those properties.

Coal Seam Gas (CSG) mining and the need for due diligence

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:00:00 GMT

For those looking to buy a house in Sydney or an investment property in Sydney, the issue of CSG mining is a further and increasingly high profile example of the regulatory and environmental risks which can be encountered in the Sydney’s ever changing property market.

The July 2011 Sydney property market gets off to a steady start in fiscal 2012

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:00:00 GMT

With a lot happening in the lead up to the imminent launch of the new Curtis Associates web site, this month’s CurtiseCall is a little shorter than usual.

The Sydney property market trends discussed in CurtiseCall June 2011 continued this month.

Financial year end wrap and what does fiscal 2012 hold for the Sydney property market?

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:00:00 GMT

You did not have to look much further than the June 2011 Sydney real estate market for continuing evidence of a two speed economy right here in our back yard.

This was a month of conflicting economic data.