THE Bathurst property market may be strong, but it is not enjoying the same boom as metropolitan areas.
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Bathurst Real Estate owner Mick Whittaker said sales had been consistently good since around September, but said they were not in the same league as Sydney.
“Without breaking any records, we are seeing good growth,” he said, but added that Sydney was on its own in terms of sales.
“We don’t have the boom Sydney has at the moment, it’s just gone nuts,” he said.
Mr Whittaker said one of the reasons why Sydney is going through a major sales boom is because properties there have had a substantial decrease in prices.
“From what I’m seeing on social media and hearing through agents I know who work in Sydney, it’s really been crazy there for the last six to eight months.
“They are getting a clearance rate of 86 per cent,” he said.
Mr Whittaker said while auctions work in Sydney, because of the weight of numbers, his experience in Bathurst is private treaty is still the way to go.
“We’ve had plenty of sales recently via private treaty.”
Mr Whittaker said many of his recent sales have had more than one buyer interested.
“We’ve had cases where there have been two or three buyers who want the same property, if a home is priced correctly buyers will always show good interest,” he said.
Mr Whittaker said the news is good and the local market is on the way up.
“If you’re thinking of selling now is the time to list,” he said.
LJ Hooker licensee David Chapman agreed that while the market was strong, vendors had to ensure their property was offered for the suitable market price.
“The market is very steady, there are plenty of buyers, however there is a lot of stock, and unless homes meet the market expectations they may sit there for a while,” he said.
He noted that open houses and private inspections had all been very busy.
“Now is certainly a good time to sell, there is activity across the board, as long as vendors are realistic they will be alright.”
Mr Chapman added that local and interstate investors had been showing strong interest in Bathurst.
Ray White selling principal Peter Ison noted that there was a increase in rental properties in the region, as a lot of investment properties had been sold.
He agreed that while the market was consistent, the demand was not as great as Sydney.
“We work with auctions as well as private treaty and have an average clearance rate of 50 per cent and then in between 30 and 60 days after we have an average clearance of over 85 per cent.”
Mr Ison said he did not think the market would move up any time soon.
“Now is as good a time as any to sell and interest rates are as low as they have ever been,” he said.