With the first hint of autumn in the air the Blue Mountains is experiencing a shortage of homes for sale that creates a real opportunity for seller to capitalise before the traditional influx of new stock comes to the market in mid Autumn.
Blue Mountains property market March 2024
Blackheath has shown strong sales recently, with 70 homes selling in the last 6 months with a median days on market of 39. The current median house price for Blackheath as of 19th March 2024 is $776,000. The top selling office in Blackheath for the last 6 months is Ray White and the top selling agent; No1. Alan Gregory. (Source; Price Finder 19th Mar 2024). Ray White also secured the top sale price for 10-12 Pulpit Rock Road, Blackheath at $1,770,000.
The current median house price for Mount Victoria as of 19th March 2024 is $740,000. The top selling office in Mount Victoria for the last 6 months was Ray White, and the top selling agent; No1. Alan Gregory. (Source; Price Finder 19th Mar2024). Ray White secured the top sale price for 67 Victoria Street, Mount Victoria $1,550,000.
The current median house price for Medlow Bath as of 19th March 2024 is $735,000. The top selling office in Medlow Bath for the last 6 months is Ray White, and the top selling agent is No1. Katrina Allport from Ray White (Source: PriceFinder).
The current median house price for Katoomba as of 19th March 2024 is $762,750.
The current median house price for Leura as of 19th March 2024 is $1,032,000
The current median house price for Wentworth Falls as of 19th Mar 2024 is $866,250.
Could rates be cut as early as May?
While today was a hold, speculation continues to build as to when the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut rates. While there are different ways to consider this, it will be driven mostly by what happens to inflation over coming months, but also the timing of data releases.
Inflation is definitely coming down and far quicker than what was anticipated at the end of last year. At the end of November, the ASX 30 Day Interbank Cash Rate Futures index was pricing in another rate increase in February, which obviously never occurred. Once December inflation was released, the outlook changed dramatically and the index is now pricing in cuts in September 2024, February 2025 and August 2025.
Continued weakness in the economy may be another catalyst for a May cut, even if inflation isn’t quite at below three per cent. GDP growth came in at a weak 0.2 per cent for the December quarter. While we aren’t quite headed for recession, it does show that the brakes are on economic growth. So much so that at a parliamentary hearing in Canberra last month, Michelle Bullock, the RBA Governor, stated they may cut rates before inflation hits below three per cent.
(Source: Nerida Conisbee, Ray White Group Chief Economist)
Auction update
Ray White agents had 845 booked auctions, or 30 per cent share of the market this week, the second busiest auction week of the year with just almost 2,800 homes set for auction nationally.
The Ray White Group had 502 auctions scheduled nationally alone over the weekend, with 4.2 registered bidders attending auctions nationally, and 3 bidders actively participating on average. The leading group recorded an impressive 77 per cent preliminary clearance rate by late Saturday.
