Sales Plunging, Prices Edging Down And A Large Swath Of Properties Hitting The Market

A report from News.com.au in Australia. “A Melbourne property developer is offering what might be the best Black Friday deal going around — up to $100,000 off the price of new apartments. As the housing market cools, developers and agents have been forced to offer sweeteners sometimes worth tens of thousands of dollars, ranging appliance packages and rental guarantees to stamp duty payments.”

“Caydon international marketing director Steve Williams said across the portfolio there were five apartments or townhouses that had a $100,000 price reduction. ‘Every apartment has a discount of at least 5 per cent, then some are up to 10-11 per cent,’ he said.”

The New Zealand Herald. “New Zealand economists believe Auckland‘s housing market could follow similar trends to major Australian cities and experience price drops. Craigs Investment Partners‘ Mark Lister told the Herald it could happen but he believed a price decrease was unlikely in the current economic climate.”

“‘You‘d need to see something get ugly, like China have a major hiccup or us to have some sort of localised issue like foot and mouth disease,’ he said.”

The South China Morning Post. “Shao Mingxiao, CEO of Longfor Group, said life is becoming tougher for builders after a slew of government measures in recent months to take the heat out of the market. China has seen angry protests erupt previously when developers have cut their prices at a project when sales are already under way.”

“‘We see that the purchase cycle, from visiting a project to sealing the deal, has become longer as buyers are getting cold feet. Doing property business will be more difficult,’ said Shao. ‘We will consider adjusting prices at some new projects. But we will not lower prices of those we’ve already started selling as it would cause damaging results.'”

“In October, buyers who had paid full price for flats at two projects in Shanghai and Jiangxi reacted furiously when Country Garden Holdings, the mainland’s largest developer by sales, slashed prices by up to 30 per cent. Scores of people who had paid the original price gathered to protest, brandishing placards and chanting ‘return my hard-earned money!'”

From Bloomberg. “Hong Kong developers are offering discounts at new projects in the latest sign the city’s housing boom is coming off the boil. Country Garden Holdings Co. and Wang On Properties Ltd. are giving discounts of as much as 12 percent at their Altissimo project in the New Territories, a price list shows.”

“Employees of the two developers are granted an additional 5 percent deduction. Lai Sun Development Co. has cut prices 10 percent at eight units in a project on Hong Kong Island. The discounts come after secondary-home prices last week dropped the most since 2016, sliding 1.3 percent from the previous week, according to the Centa-City Leading Index.”

From Business in Vancouver on Canada. “Metro Vancouver’s turbocharged residential real estate market is showing signs of slowing, with sales plunging, prices edging down and a large swath of properties hitting the market. To explain the price declines, REBGV president Phil Moore pointed to the number of homes in the region that sold in October, 1,966, noting a 34.9% decline compared with the 3,022 homes that sold in the same month a year ago.”

“He noted that the 12,984 homes listed for sale in Metro Vancouver in October represented nearly a four-year high.”

“‘We’re clearly at a point where prices are adjusting right now,’ said real estate analyst Tsur Somerville. ‘We’re in our form of a declining market. You see that in the drop in transactions and the drop in prices.'”

From Reuters on Sweden. “The number of housing starts in Sweden fell 16 percent to 39,100 in January-September period compared to the same three quarters in 2017, the statistics office said. Despite an acute shortage of affordable rental housing, many Swedish property developers have focused on building more profitable and expensive, tenant-owned apartments in major cities in the last couple of years.”

“But tougher mortgage repayment rules and limits on borrowing have left many projects unsold and some developers with big losses. Olle Holmgren at SEB, said that ‘It’s a clear cool-down of the housing market.'”

The Daily Mail on the UK. “My home has been sat on the market for several months and I want to give it a push to get it sold. I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do – how much should I declutter, how much should I dress it up, do I need new photos to make it look fresher on Rightmove and other sites – and how do you keep a family home looking good when it’s sitting on the market for a few months?”

“MailOnline Property expert Myra Butterworth replies: ‘With Brexit on the horizon and Britain preparing to leave the EU in March next year there is a lot of uncertainty, which is deterring some would-be buyers from making a decision. Many homes have sat on the market for weeks on end with few viewings and no sign of a serious buyer.'”

“‘Price is usually considered the most important element in selling a home. If you price a property low compared to rivals, then it should sell. But many sellers are reluctant to take too much off the asking price, as they could then fall short of the money they need to move home.'”

“‘It is also easy for sellers to focus on an initial asking price and feel they are losing money if they do not achieve close to that. A small price cut may feel palatable to someone whose home has been sitting on the market for some time, but a sizeable reduction may not.'”