Curtis Associates

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.

Sydney property prices – trends 2011. Is there a change coming at the top end?

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Towards the end of May 2011, the $2 million to $3 million bracket of the Sydney property market departed from the trends above $2 million discussed in CurtiseCall February 2011.This shift may signal an end to the confidence depleted mood which has in 2011 afflicted many real estate buyers as they responded to daily doses of...

Light rail is the next big thing for inner Sydney property prices - a tall tale or true?

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:00:00 GMT

In addition to being at the heart of the newly elected State Government’s election pledges to fix Sydney’s long standing public transportation problems, Sydney’s existing and proposed light rail systems are seen by some watchers of the Sydney property market as one of the biggest potential influences on the future direction of inner city residential and commercial property prices in the medium to longer term.

Bargains found in the March 2011 Sydney residential property market

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:00:00 GMT

The Sydney property market this month was one interrupted by a change of State Government on 26 March 2011 and influenced by the natural disasters in Queensland and Japan. In a mood reminiscent of the uncertainty induced by the GFC, other buyers were spooked by the nuclear scare following the last of those disasters as well as the political upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East.