offering a host of perks and incentives in a bid to attract buyers under current market conditions.
According to RateCity, which monitors lending markets, more than 70 lenders who are looking to lure in new borrowers or encourage existing borrowers to switch, are now offering headline variable rates of less than 2 per cent, along with several other incentives, including new rounds of cashback guarantees. On the other hand, sellers are prepared to discount sky-high prices and accepting competitive offers prior to auctions, agents, particularly those in Sydney and Melbourne, have revealed.
“As the number of homes advertised for sale normalises across Sydney and moves to above average levels in Melbourne, vendors are gradually discounting their asking prices,” Tim Lawless, research director at CoreLogic, said. With listings more than 7 per cent above the previous five-year average, discounts in Melbourne have jumped by about 35 per cent since October last year. “More competition and higher discount rates means more choice and less urgency for buyers,” Lawless added.
Market conditions for buyers in Sydney have also appear to be improving, with a 7 per cent increase in the number of advertised properties compared to this time last year, although it was still about 4 per cent lower than the five-year average. The asking price of a typical average house is usually discounted by about 3 per cent, which is 19 per cent higher than April 2021.
However, Suburbtrends.com, which monitors residential property the availability of property and the potential for discounts in asking prices widely vary between postcodes. For instance, in areas such as Sydney’s Freshwater and Stanmore, as well as Canberra’s Conder and Evatt and Victoria’s Geelong, stock prices continue to push prices up. “There are plenty of regions where insufficient listings of properties continue to drive up prices. A lack of stock drives competition, particularly in regions to which people are moving from major cities,” Kent Lardner, head of research at Suburb trends, said.
