House Purchases & Prices in ACT

[richselina]

Hi,

 

We are moving to ACT later this year and have just received an offer on our house in the UK which is below our asking price, but the purchasers have nothing to sell so it's a quick transaction. If we were staying in the UK we would accept the offer and try to negotiate some of the reduction on our next purchase, but as we are now going to be buying abroad we can't do that. I would therefore welcome some advice on typically what movement there is on prices in ACT on the 'for sale' price to help me make a decision on whether to accept or hang on for a better price. We will be looking at houses mainly around the Belconnen / Gunghalin area in the price range of $550K.

 

All help would be most welcome.

 

Thanks, Richard

[Quoll]

I think there is a small swing down at the moment - certainly in our area you couldnt get anything under $600k a year or so ago but I now see them going for $570k which would have been unheard of a year ago. I should think Canberra would be the most protected against huge swings because of the dearth of housing and lots of cashed up public servants but if there is a razor gang attack on the APS then the market can shift quite drastically as it has in the past. This is one of those crystal ball things and maybe you are better to wait and see if you actually like ACT before burning all your bridges and selling up http://www.rs.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=sp&s=act&u=canberra shows that supply is outstripping demand at the mo so maybe they will go down quite a bit further

[Freckleface]

The market has softened a little bit in Canberra but it can vary from suburb to suburb.

 

Have you looked on All Homes (http://www.allhomes.com.au) to see if you like the look of properties in your budget? If you can sell your home in the UK for less than what you wanted but can still afford something you like when you get here it probably isn't an issue. However if you sell for less and then can't afford the type of home you want you might end up hating it here because of that.

 

Most Canberra property is listed on All Homes so you would get a fairly good idea of what is available.

 

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Guest SandP]

We bought a house in October and it was originally advertised at around $50k more than we paid. It was reduced to offers over and we had a couple of rival bids but we won despite bidding same as we were first.

 

Offers over prices are usually looking for the figure advertised at the very least but are hoping to get up to $50k on top. Auctions may be the best way but younrun the risk of losing the house you want if you reach your max before someone else. I think if you look there are bargains to be had but it will depend upon where you want to buy.