About Sydney
The greater Sydney region is around 12,300 kilometres and is the most populous city in Australia with a population of 4.9 million and a population density of 400 people per square kilometre in the Greater Sydney region. The predominant age group in Sydney is 25-34 years with households comprised primarily of childless couples.
Traditional agent commissions in Sydney
Agent commissions in Sydney are surprising, generally a little lower than the fees you can expect in other capital cities, but are still around 1.84 - 2.0% of the value of your property. On top of a commission, if you sell with a traditional agent, you would also generally pay additional advertising fees. As a general rule, most traditional agents recommend you allocate around 1% of the asking price towards advertising. For an $800,000 property this equates to $8000 in advertising costs, plus your commission fees on top. However selling your home yourself through PropertyNow costs as little as $694.
The real estate market in Sydney
Moving into 2020, the real estate market in Sydney has shown growth for the first time since April 2018, with values starting to rise again. Dwelling values in Sydney were up 6.2% in the first three months ending 2019 and coming into 2020 and 1.6% over the last 12 months, showing an average annual growth of 5.2% over the last decade.
Both house and unit values have been rising. As of January 2020, the median dwelling price in Sydney is $840,072 with median house values at $956,249 and median unit values of $736,530. Auction clearance rates are at 77% as of December 2019 - which is much higher than the 41% of 2018.
Despite the increases in property values, weekly rents have changed little over the last 12 months now, having dropped slightly, sitting at $540 for houses and $510 for units, less than the values of previous years. The gross rental yields currently are climbing from previous record lows, up 2.8% for houses and 3.6% for units.
The average number of days on the market for sale properties has fallen from 2018, with 31 days on the market being the average as of January 2020 (slightly less than the average of 36 days from 2018).
Overall, as of Summer 2020, the market in Sydney is turning back towards becoming a seller's market.
Coronavirus and the Sydney property market
By May 2020, property prices in Sydney had held their ground despite the disruptive worldwide Coronavirus pandemic in Australia. With social distancing restrictions impacting the inspection process for buyers and sellers, Sydney property still managed a 0.4 per cent growth during the month of April and a 3.2% growth for the first quarter of 2020. Reports show that while the level of activity had dropped during this time, housing values stabilised. Sellers can list their property with confidence knowing that the Sydney property market is somewhat resilient even during a pandemic.
Selling property in Sydney without an agent
We've had excellent feedback from owners using our service to sell Sydney-based properties, and we tend to notice that \Sydney-based properties experience much higher enquiry rates and faster sale times than owners in regional areas where demand is lower.
By not paying an agent a hefty commission you give yourself more room to move on the sale price, which gives you an advantage over similar properties in the market. When you use PropertyNow, you can rest assured enquiries are being responded too quickly and are properly followed up. If you're not sure of how to price your property, we can help you with a current market analysis and will provide you with a detailed breakdown of sale statistics for Sydney (or a specific suburb of Sydney), as well as an estimated value of your property.
Testimonial from a client in Sydney
PropertyNow markets properties and supports owners to sell privately, nationwide. Sydney Coulson sold his property in Sydney with our help and had this to say "Thanks to Andrew and PropertyNow our home was easy to list, was listed on the two prominent real estate websites within hours of being added to the PropertyNow site and, as good fortune would have it, sold to the first couple who came to view it. After such a positive experience and saving thousands of dollars in commission, can't recommend PropertyNow highly enough as the ideal vehicle for buyers and sellers of real estate to connect with one another. PropertyNow will be the first and only port of call for the next real estate transaction."
*Authored in January 2020. Please contact us if you require more recent information or advice about leasing or selling a property in Sydney yourself.