When a property in Newtown, Denison Street 229, went public in Sydney`s inner west side, sellers were confident that it would sell for 1.6 million yuan.
After all, a similar house next door sold for $1.58 million less than a year ago-so when they received a $1.55 million offer last month, they refused.
But the move ultimately cost them 85000 yuan, the four-bedroom house sold for only 1.465 million yuan.
The same story happened last week when a Naremburn home at 70 / 252 Willoughby Road sold for six hundred and sixty five thousand yuan.
The price guidance for the one-bedroom apartment ranges from 700000 to 750000 yuan, and the owner has previously rejected a higher price than the final price.
Mayfield Property Buyers`s buyer agent, John Carous (John Carew), bought the two properties on behalf of clients. The examples, he said, reflect a "surprising trend" that has recently taken place in Sydney.
"there are still a lot of sellers with 2017 pricing expectations," he said.
"in many cases, the original price guidance price is too high, which means they are not involved in the buyer`s market and the interest of the buyer is already limited."
"the original guidance price was out of date and eventually went on sale at auction, and in many cases they had to lower the price below the market price."
He says the market has changed dramatically over the past year or two.
"in the boom, the price guidance price is almost irrelevant, almost guaranteed that you will have 10 competitive bidders." "but now, if you don`t get the right price guidance in the first place, it`s very challenging for the seller to get good results," he said.
"it is very important for sellers to listen to their agents because they are people who talk to buyers every day and they know the results."
Carous said it was important for sellers to adjust expectations.
"people are looking forward to selling prices 12 months ago," he said. "if they don`t listen to advice and adjust their prices in a timely manner, their properties will be difficult to sell, or they`ll have to sell at a discount."
However, he stressed that when sellers succeed in "marketing, showcasing and pricing", the housing market can still achieve steady results-but he warns that Sydney homes are unlikely to attract "frenzied competition" as they did in 2016 and 2017.
Carous, on the other hand, said there were "very good buying opportunities" in Sydney if buyers were willing to "act quickly" and use the current environment to bid.
He said it was also a good time for homeowners, first-time investors and those who wanted to upgrade to larger homes who had previously been pushed out of the market because prices were too high.
Shrewd potential buyers, he said, should make good use of properties that have been on the market for some time, especially during the last few "peak periods" before the summer holiday.
The best strategy for buyers is to consider early bids, which "tend to be the best in a tough market," Mr. Caru added, and set prices from the start.
