2023: A Buyer's Market
With property prices falling, more stock on the market and interest rate rises peaking, 2023 promises to be an historic sweet spot year to buy a property.
What a difference a year makes!
At the beginning of 2022, the post-lockdown Victorian property market was still a vendors' bonanza, thanks to historically low interest rates, closed international borders, pent-up buyer demand and low supply.
As we enter 2023, international borders were long ago opened, and interest rates have risen for the last eight months in a row. Many vendors are now exiting out of low fixed-term rates and into huge mortgage cliffs. Fewer buyers are able to borrow the same amount they could a year ago, creating less competition. And new tax and superannuation rules are now in operation, that are favourable to downsizing and selling investment properties.
That makes 2023 an exciting opportunity for savvy buyers. Indeed the first six months of the year could well be an historic sweet spot for purchasers, before interest rates are widely predicted to begin to fall later in the year, as the global economic outlook improves. But many vendors can't wait and will need to sell before the end of the current financial year, due to unaffordable mortgage repayments, downsizing, tax / retirement planning and deceased estates. We expect there to be a high number of off-market opportunities to buy, as vendors seek to save money on marketing and costs associated with preparing their properties for sale.
Planning to buy in 2023? Now is the time to ensure your pre-approval is current, and that you make yourself known to the real estate agents in your target suburbs. And, as always, we are on stand-by to quickly review the contract + vendor statement/section 32 when you are ready to make an offer - within six business hours if required, via our new urgent contract review service.
Note: the above is general information and should not be considered as legal advice.
Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash