2015 to be a 'seller's year'
Property prices have been tipped to keep rising during 2015 as demand in most markets continues to exceed supply.
PRDnationwide managing director Tony Brasier told the Real Estate Institute of NSW that it would be a challenge this year to find new supply to satisfy growing demand.
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“Most markets will continue to perform strongly until interest rates and/or unemployment rises significantly,” Mr Brasier said.
“Confidence levels can have an impact on the market, and with so many negative comments as we have seen in 2014, it can have a detrimental effect on buyers’ motivation.”
LJ Hooker CEO Grant Harrod said the residential property market would remain somewhat resilient this year.
“Major metropolitan markets will continue to see demand outstripping supply, although we can expect price growth to start softening,” Mr Harrod said.
“Non-metro markets will continue to moderate as they shift more to a buyer’s market, and time on market will increase.”
Starr Partners chief executive Douglas Driscoll said the industry should expect 2015 to be similar to 2014.
“As long as interest rates remain static and consumer confidence is still high, I think that we can look forward to a good year ahead,” Mr Driscoll said.
“I think sourcing the listings to keep up with ever-increasing buyer demand will continue to challenge us, especially in the investor market.”
Tim McKibbin, chief executive of REINSW, said the market is behaving “oddly” because there is a limited amount of stock coming to market despite all the activity.
“Traditionally, when prices are high, you expect more people coming to market to sell, but that hasn’t been the case in 2014,” he said.
Mr McKibbin said people aren’t concerned with selling their current property because they expect to get a good price – what concerns them is being able to find a suitable replacement.
“However, as we head into 2015, I believe we will start to see additional stock come to market and both agents and consumers will welcome this change,” he said.
