This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PROPERTY sales in the upper end of the market have plummeted by 45% per quarter, according to property valuers Dyson Austen.
The quarterly Dyson Austen Top 10 Prestige Residential Survey showed over the last four quarters a fall in gross sales per quarter of almost 45% from its peak of September 2008.
In the June 2009 quarter, top 10 sales were approximately $110 million compared to the peak of $198 million in September 2008. The June 2008 quarter recorded $131 million in sales.
During the boom, prestige property sales climbed from steadily from $111 in January 2007 to $167 million in September 2007, $174 million in December 2007 and $190 million to March 2008.
Dyson Austen director Simon Feilich said the result is the new low point for the market since the June Quarter 2006 which recorded sales of $88 million.
Feilich said across the top 40 sales for the year, the top five all occurred in the third quarter 2008 and as the world global financial crises got worse so too did this sector. The lowest five sales all occurred in the first and second quarter of 2009.
The top sale in the current quarter was $18 million compared to $45 million in September 2008, $20 million in June 2008 and $32 million in March 2008.
In the first quarter, the most expensive property sold was for $17 million at 5 Rose Bay Avenue, Bellevue Hill. In the second quarter, the top sale was for a six bedroom house at 40 Wentworth Rd, Vaucluse for $18 million.
Meanwhile the cheapest prestige sold was a four bedroom house at 17 Trelawney St, Woollahra for $7.85 million.
Feilich said one of the strengths in the September 2008 quarter was due to the local currency collapsing by approx 17.5%.
“The future is hard to predict and revolves around the buoyancy of the equity market which has seen rapid increases since its lows of 2009,” he predicts.
But he believes the worst is over.
“Should there be no “w” in the economy but rather the “v” which some commentators believe is the case, continuing strength in the equity market and increased funds available in the lending markets, with unemployment not decreasing I think the worst is over,” Feilich said.
Australian Property Journal
