Home buyers 'should wait until spring'
HOME buyers should wait until spring to enter the property market, with prices set to tumble after a winter plateau, experts predict.
Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide all recorded steady auction clearance rates over the weekend, with Brisbane - where private treaty sales outweigh auctions - the only exception, The Australian reports.
In Sydney, 61.3 per cent of the 384 homes listed were sold at auction, up 5.3 percentage points on last week's 56 per cent, according to Australian Property Monitors.
In Melbourne, 60.8 per cent of the 555 homes listed were sold, compared with last week's 67.3 per cent.
The top-priced sale was a four-bedroom, 873sqm property at Vaucluse, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which sold for $3.7m.
Behind it was a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, 1920s residence in Melbourne's Malvern East that went for $3.4m.
Managing director of SQM Research Louis Christopher said property prices would begin to slide as early as next month.
"Because winter is a traditionally slow period, we've not felt the full extent of the struggles in our market to date," Mr Christopher said.
"We're seeing a drop in total sales . . . sellers should seriously consider their options if they're planning to trade up over the next 12 months, but for buyers it will be a great time to buy."
