The headache and heartache for Australians selling property | 7.30

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.Welcome to our auction today.My name is Damian Cooley.Think about the position, think about the location, and think about the home that you are buying.A great opportunity in entry level here.$1450, good start.

88 square metres, two bedrooms, no parking, and a guide price of $1 .5 million.

$1 .475 million, one and a half.

Welcome to Saturday Morning Fever.

Your bid, sir.

In inner Sydney.

How about a half?Can we take a half?At $1 ,705 ,000 once, twice, third all done before we sell it.Bidding, all done.Sold.Congratulations, Mervyn, sir.

Well bought.

Sebastian and Georgia have bought their first home in a market cooled by three interest rate rises and a federal budget designed to discourage property investors.And this morning, there were no investors bidding, fortunately for this young couple.

Congratulations.Thank you.How does it feel?Shocked and stunned.Georgia just asked me before how much did we actually spend on it, and I was like, I actually can't really remember.Were you bidding at the top of your limit?

Oh, God, yeah.Yeah.Yeah.We missed the top of the limit by, I think, five grand.

Yeah.

So I was like, I'm ready to be out.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has removed two of the biggest tax incentives for investors.negative gearing is now restricted to homes bought before the budget or new builds.And crucially, sellers of investment properties purchased after July 2027 will pay more capital gains tax.

Capital gain is the main game for private landlords.That's been the main business strategy for private landlords in Australia for many years.Sochanging the regime on the taxation of those capital gains is going to have, I think it's likely to have a significant impact.

Who'd be happy to kick off the bidding today?

At Damien Cooley's next auction down the road in Newtown, there are no bids from investors or anyone else either.

We're very happy to kick start the bidding this morning.Of course, we need your participation to be able to sell it.

That looks like hard work.

Yeah, this one wasn't the result that we were after, but it's a great house in a really good spot.And if this buyer doesn't buy it today, the right buyer will only be weeks away.There's not a lot of positivity about what's happening in the market right at the moment.In fact, all the indicators are suggesting that things are going to be like this for quite some time.

Auction clearance rates across the nation have been trending down since February, with borrowers hit by three consecutive interest rate rises.

At $1 .5 million.Are we all done?All finished?All silent?At $1 .5 million?

This is a national issue.

Ladies and gentlemen, bear with me for just one moment.I'll seek further instructions from the vendor.It won't keep you long.

In Melbourne on the weekend, the agents and auctioneers are having to work a little harder.

We are close.But we're not quite there.1 .5 so I don't leave you alone.No, $100.You can't do that.

This house eventually sold after some post -auction negotiations.Even a stone's throw from Australia's best known beach, it's not an easy time to sell.

Hi, Monica.Hi, how are you?Adam.Nice to meet you.I'm Monica Shaw.Come on through.

Let me show you.Thank you very much.So, here you've got this expansive living space.Beautiful high -ceiling ceiling, which is really nice of Bondi.

So, is this what you call the heritage kitchen?

You can call it what you like.I will say it's probably ripe for renovation.Yeah.You can actually.So, yes, it is a bit quieter.We're not seeing as many people through open homes and we're not seeing as many transactions.

Obviously, auction clearance rates have been a little bit reduced.

It's been on the market for three months.Owner Shelley Kenigsberg lived here for 38 years, but needs to sell to top up her savings and super.It went to auction in March.

I was looking for one nine.

Right.And did you get any bids?

It was effectively passed in, which is a term I'd heard before.And yeah, passed out.

Passed in and passed out.So do you think, had interest rates started to rise by then?Do you think that was...

It had in fact been...

Well, I think we can be pretty sure that the interest rate increases have already had some dampening impact.If we're seeing some further reduction in clearance rates, that may be partly a budget impact.

Shelley's apartment is now for sale at $1 .865 million.

I'd say there's been a slight adjustment in the market.So this probably would have been around the two mark last year.

Right, OK.Well, that's a significant drop, almost $150 ,000, right?

Yeah, it's about 8 % to 10%.Last opportunity.One, two.

Well, I think what the government is aiming for is to cool the housing market for the medium and long term.What will happen in the short term is another matter.And it might well be that there's a bit of a shock reaction.

That's okay, folks.I'll tell you what.I understand you're shy.I understand you're nervous.I'll give you a moment to think about it.I will seek my instruction.