A report from Domain News in Australia. "Sydneysiders who snapped up off-the-plan apartments at the peak of the property boom are now short-changed, with banks valuing their properties well below the agreed price."

 "Buyers unable to borrow the required amount to settle on their apartment are being forced to turn to friends and family, take out personal loans or even sell off assets to bridge the gap between what banks will now lend them off the back of lower property valuations and what they need to pay."

"First-home buyers and investors were most likely to be affected, according to BIS Oxford Economics’ head of residential research Angie Zigomanis. 'The bank might use the equity in the [family] home to cover the shortfall,' said Mr Zigomanis. 'It’s going to be challenging to have a valuation above your purchase price if you bought in 2017.'"

"The proportion of buyers unable to settle has almost doubled due to tighter lending restrictions, according to Dennis Vertzayias, national director for residential at Colliers International."

"'These buyers are not [as] emotionally invested … they’re prepared to walk away and lose their 10 per cent deposit [if they can’t get finance],' said Mr Vertzayias, adding that multiple external factors had seen settlement defaults climb to 20 per cent."

"He said those affected, mostly foreign buyers, would lose their deposit and, in some rare cases, be liable to cover any price differential if the property resold at a loss. More than 14 per cent of Sydney apartment owners’ resales are at a loss, a rise from 11 per cent in the past 18 months, according to CoreLogic research. Meanwhile, the number of off-the-plan apartments valued at a lower price jumped from 11 per cent in April last year to 30 per cent in September."

"'We’ve had valuations that have fallen short about $60,000, or about a 5 per cent difference,' said Capio Property Group chief executive Mark Bainey. 'Everyone has been able to settle. '[But] I’ve heard of other developments … where they’ve come in $100,000 or $150,000 lower … that’s where you can see problems.'"

From News.com.au. "As the housing market cools, sellers are having to splash out tens of thousands of dollars on renovations to make their homes look brand new to appeal to 'picky' buyers. Raine & Horne luxury sales agent Matthew Mifsud said in a slowing market, if the property 'doesn’t stand out the buyers won’t even come.' Falling prices have brought out 'bargain hunters' who are looking for discounts of up to 5 per cent."

"Century 21 sales executive Joanne Dai said a lot of the larger developments were slowing down as the housing market cooled. 'It’s become more competitive, you can negotiate. Before it was, ‘This is it, take it or leave it.’ She added: 'I don’t know how much of a silver lining it is.'"


From ABC News. "As house prices continue their downward trajectory on the eastern seaboard, property owners across the Nullarbor are watching on with interest. Perth is more than four years into a housing downturn that is yet to bottom out after median house prices peaked at $585,000 in November 2014, according to Landgate figures."

"As panicked owner-occupiers and property investors in Sydney and Melbourne try to predict what will happen from here, real estate observers and economists say the WA market may provide some clues."

"The reality is that Sydney has further to fall than Perth did, according to Bankwest chief economist Alan Langford. 'If you get that far out of kilter with incomes, you're going to have a steep fall,' he said."

"In Perth, even after four years the decline in market sentiment has yet to reverse course, plunging to new depths in housing data released this week."

"There doesn't seem to be any perception amongst anybody out there in the market, generally, that they're going to make any substantial capital gains, if any at all,' said Real Estate Institute of Western Australia president Damian Collins 'Whereas you go back 18 months ago, in Sydney and Melbourne, there was the exact opposite. They just thought it was going to go up 15 per cent per annum as far as the eye could see.'"

The Sydney Morning Herald. "Australia's house price slump has sent a chill through a swathe of the economy and threatens to inflict more damage if it prompts already cautious consumers to further cut down on spending."

"With the prospect of the biggest fall in Sydney house prices since the 1990s, more than $9 billion has been wiped off the combined market values of seven of the country's largest building suppliers since June (from about $39 billion to $30 billion)."

"Ratings agency Moody's warned this week that a prolonged weakening of house prices would create a 'negative wealth effect' on spending. 'The consumer is the majority of GDP,' said JP Morgan senior economist Ben Jarman."