"What a year it's been!"

"The market made some massive improvements over the 2012/2013 financial year.  The number of sales rose while the number of listings fell.

The ACTON Group have posted strong sales results each month, with numbers rising each quarter.  Sales for the June quarter were 52.02 percent higher than for the 2012 June quarter, while sales for the financial year were 47.75 percent higher than the 2011/2012 financial year.
Listings are currently sitting at around 8,900, while they were closer to 13,000 at the same time last year.  Buyers were encouraged by falling interest rates and very reasonable prices and became more active.  First homebuyers in particular fuelled the market recovery and paved the way for upgraders.

The fall in listings has seen more pressure put on buyers to act.  As a result houses are selling in shorter time frames and prices are showing some growth.  However pricing is still the key to a quick sale, with buyers looking for value for money and ignoring those properties they consider over-priced.

We have also seen the South West and the premium end of the market improve strongly, two areas that were hardest hit by the GFC and subsequent market slowdown.

Auctions have played a greater role in the market this year, with ACTON seeing an increase of 63.87 percent in the number of sellers using the auction process.  The demand for properties was highlighted in the number of properties being sold prior to auction (23.40 percent), with buyers deciding they didn't want to risk waiting for the auction and facing competition for the property.

Overall, demand is still strong, fuelled by population growth, continuing low interest rates, and low unemployment.

The rental market has also stabilised over the last six months, following a shortage of rental listings and rising rents at the beginning of 2013.  The properties available for rent have almost doubled over the year, slightly reducing the urgency and competitiveness among tenants.  While the general vacancy rate is sitting at 2.7 percent, demand varies, with some areas receiving multiple applications, while the higher end of the market is finding that prospective tenants are being quite choosy. "

This article was sourced from that Acton Real Estate July newsletter.