Open houses a secret in Sydney's 'ballistic' property market

SYDNEY'S "ballistic" property market is becoming intensely secret, as buyers splurge thousands to see exclusive listings and sellers stamp out public viewings.

Vendors can no longer cope with massive crowds - sometimes up to 200 people - inspecting homes.
Now, up to half of Sydney's property market is being sold silently, industry sources said.
Real estate agents said vendors no longer needed to advertise, with record buyer numbers wanting to capitalise on equity before interest rates go up. Agents said they no longer called buyers back because there were simply too many people ready to purchase.
Instead of paying for advertising in newspapers or the internet, agents send exclusive listings to buyers via text message or email.
At one address that was not advertised last week, VIP Portfolio buyers agent Michael Fenech
privately showed an apartment in Sydney's inner suburbs to his client on Friday - before the usual weekend stampede.

The Daily Telegraph signed a statement promising not to identify the building in any way - but to buy one will cost you an extra $9000 for Mr Fenech's service.
"Thousands of properties never go on the market, they sell and no one knows about it," he said.
Vendors were tired of managing crowds of buyers storming through their properties every weekend, he said. "Up to 60 per cent of properties are never advertised," Mr Fenech said.
"People would rather go to an agent and do it on the quiet. It lets them get an offer before they have 60 people walking through the house every Saturday.


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Rising interest rates to hit renters hard

INTEREST rate rises during the next two years is going to hit tenants hard as the cost of escalating mortgage payments is passed on to tennants. TENANTS can expect to pay out an extra $5 billion or more in the next two years as landlords push up rents to cover spiralling mortgage costs.
Property analyst Residex and the country's biggest real estate chain Ray White say the Reserve Bank's lifting of interest rates is flowing straight through to the rental market.
A shortage of available properties and increased population are adding to the rate pressure, with weekly rents expected to rise between $40 and $100 in the next two years.
"Every force in the marketplace will be driving rents higher,'' Ray White director Ben White says.
"The mortgages of rental property owners are becoming more expensive, so it's inevitable that this will result in rents going up,'' White says.


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