Real estate agent Amir Jahan said the market in Sydney is so bad right now that even he couldn’t afford to buy.
The 25-year-old bought his first home six years ago in Parramatta, but if he’d waited until 2024, he’d be unable to purchase something as a single buyer.
“I got lucky. If I wanted to buy now I wouldn’t be able to buy something decent,” he told news.com.au.
Mr Jahan said that the Sydney market feels “unstoppable” right now, and young people just can’t afford to invest in it.
“It is unbelievable. A lot of my buyers looking to buy a property in Sydney are changing their minds and buying in Perth or Adelaide,” he said.
Mr Jahan said that just yesterday he had a buyer call him and reveal they’d given up on trying to crack the Sydney market and would be trying their luck on the Central Coast instead.
“They are being pushed towards buying in different cities,” he said.
“If you’re not in your mid-forties and you don’t have much savings. The Sydney market is … you can’t control it.”
The median house price in Sydney has now soared past $1.6 million, and it has become an unattainable market.
Financial comparison website Finder has reported that to buy a median unit in Sydney you would need to save $156,000 for a 20 per cent deposit.
In order to comfortably service this mortgage, you’ll need a minimum household income of $154,170.
To be able to afford the median house in Sydney, you would need to have saved $285,000 for a 20 per cent deposit.
In order to comfortably service this mortgage, you’ll need a minimum household income of $281,657.
Mr Jahan said the average two-bedroom apartment now sells for over $800,000, and most first-time home buyers he deals with are often left gutted when they try to enter the market.
“Once they get approved, they think it is so much money, but once they hit the market, their expectations have to half,” he said.
Mr Jahan said that now, on a weekly basis, he watches as young couples come to auctions optimistic and leave heartbroken.
“The buyers come to the auctions and leave disappointed. Once they see the results they are shocked,” he said.
The prices houses are going for is even jaw-dropping to Mr Jahan, who just sold a home in Mount Druitt for a suburb record price of $2.3 million.
“When I started getting people coming to the inspections, they were offering $1.4 million or $1.5 million,” he said.
“The highest offer I had before the auction was $1.5 million.”
When auction day arrived, there were only 11 bidders registered, but that was enough for the price to surge.
“It shocked everyone in the area,” he said.
“People are calling me saying, ‘I can’t believe it’ and they love it because it has increased the value of their property.”
Mr Jahan said his goal when selling is always to get the “highest price”, and he had strong expectations for the property, but even he was stunned.
“I was expecting to get close to $1.9 million but $2.3 million,” he said.
Mr Jahan said the owner was ecstatic with the result, but a record-breaking result comes with a slew of disappointed buyers.
Hopeful buyers watched as a house they thought they’d be able to afford was sold for $300,000 more than the expected price range.