Why the current auction climate in Sydney gives the best chance to buy right now

However, despite all this, the current auction climate is worth your time, but not necessarily through an auction, according to buyer’s agent Kellie Landrey at Scoutable.

“I actually am finding the auction environment right now in Sydney so much more favourable,” Ms Landrey told Smart Property Investment.

“At the moment, I’m seeing instead of five bidders at a property that we saw at the end of last year, now we’ve only got maybe one or two actually bidding at auctions. So, the ability for buyers to buy at auction for a realistic price is much more achievable in the current market than it was last year.”

Not only having a low turnout means less competition, but it can also increase your chances of buying at pre-auction.

In late February, Ms Landrey was attempting to bid on a property, but there were only two registered bidders.

“In the end, the vendor got very nervous and just negotiated at pre-auction, which I’m finding is happening a lot. So, there’s definitely opportunities out there to get a good deal away from the auction floor at the moment at Sydney in the inner-city market,” the buyer’s agent said.

Despite a large emphasis on auctions, most properties are sold by private treaty, and if they sell via auction, they may not even be worth an investor’s time, Simon Pressley, head of market research at Propertyology, told Smart Property Investment.

“Australia-wide, roughly 90 per cent of properties sold are via private [treaty], not auction,” Mr Pressley said.

“Of those properties that are sold via auction, most aren’t ideally suitable for investors.”