A report from the Australian Financial Review. "Weekend property sales were boosted as sellers in inner Sydney and Melbourne cut prices by up to 20 per cent to seal deals in sluggish markets. 'Cheap as chips,' said Emma Bloom, buyer's agent and director of Morrell and Koren, which specialise on prestigious inner Melbourne real estate, about the buyer's market."

"Ms Bloom said agents who over-quoted property values are being forced to review their original price in line with falling market expectations. Many properties coming up for auction have been on the market for more than 12 months, have been passed in once, failed to find any expressions of interest among private buyers, and are put back on the market with a second agent."

"For example, Melbourne’s most expensive weekend sale at Mernda Road, Kooyong, a leafy dress circle suburb about 7kms south-east of Melbourne’s central business district, sold for about $4.7 million after being passed in. The four-bedroom, luxury 1930s property, which had been on the market for about 12 months, was on offer for about $5.5 million and, at the height of the property boom, would likely have sold for about $6 million, according to agents."

"'Prices have come off about 10 per cent in the sub $1.2 million to $1.3 million market. For the right property buyers are willing to jump in and compete,' said Tom Scarpignato, an agent for Belle Property in Neutral Bay."

From Domain News. "Prices are way, way down, volumes are way, way down, but now that the [federal] election has been called it will start to settle – that’s my gut feel,' said auctioneer Jeremy Fox."

"Partner at Nelson Alexander Ascot Vale Jon McKenna said many of the properties that were passing in were selling within a week of the auction being held. The banks’ tighter lending restrictions meant buyers were, at times, reluctant to bid in case they were unable to borrow enough for the reserve or winning bid."

"There were also those still waiting to see what the market will do. 'We’re asking bidders and the common answer we get is ‘we’re just waiting.' McKenna said."

From Nine Finance. "The Reserve Bank has warned that more Australian households could be falling into negative equity, where their house is worth less than their mortgage, as property prices continue to plummet. National Australia Bank (NAB) Group Chief Economist Alan Oster said the current housing downturn is one of the largest on record."

"But what makes this one different to previous slumps, including the Great Depression, is that property prices in Sydney and Melbourne are falling while unemployment and interest rates remain low, he said."

"'Are conditions now anything like the Great Depression? Give me a break. Are they likely to turn into the Great Depression? Give me a break,' Oster told 9Finance. 'When house prices go down, it has big impact on construction. We have an 18 to 20 per cent fall in construction over the next two years... But is the economy falling over? No.'"

"Robert Mellor, managing director of Australian economic forecaster BIS Oxford Economics, said right now, house prices are 16 per cent below their June 2017 peak and the downturn is not as dramatic as people believe. 'All we’re seeing (currently) is a return to where prices were back in June 2016, in nominal terms. In fact, we’ve fallen back to June 2016 levels and the price growth we saw in the 2016-2017 financial year is something that was probably not justified on the long-term fundamentals. And it was because investors went over the top, the owner-occupiers got caught up in it,' Mellor said."

From ABC News. "Darwin property owner Suzy Kruhse-Mountburton believes her biggest mistake in decades of investing was listening to people predicting market conditions who 'don't have a crystal ball.'"

"'It certainly doesn't help when the media pumps out endless negative media, negative reports that are all just fiction anyway. Nobody knows,' she said. 'When people are nervous, they're very, very sensitive to negative media and when they keep hearing in the media that 'Darwin's doomed' and so on, it doesn't help.'"

"'Darwin is really, really tough," said realestate.com.au chief economist, Nerida Conisbee. 'It's now five years into a property downturn, prices are down almost 25 per cent from peak, so it is actually probably the worst-hit market in Australia in recent history.'"

"Ms Kruhse-Mountburton is currently advertising a house in Rapid Creek for private sale. She said she believed the market had bottomed out, and was likely to turn around in the next 18 months or so. 'I've listened to this rubbish before and I've seen it over more than 50 years, so it's not a new thing,' she said."

"She said there were very few good-quality properties on the market because people who are holding property know the price is too low. 'They're just sitting and waiting for it to turn,' she said."

"Ms Kruhse-Mountburton said while she had shown the house to several people, she would not be selling it at any price. 'I'm not dead yet, I could wait a few more years, so that's what I'm thinking of doing.'"