Demand for homes in Orange is far exceeding supply with real estate agents reporting strong winter sales.
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And they have forecast spring sales will be “on steroids” with sellers able to cash in on increased demand from local, Sydney and western NSW buyers.
They said houses were being snapped up quickly, many before they were even advertised, leading to sellers achieving increased prices.
McCormack Barber Real Estate director Peter McCormack said there was a major shortage of homes for sale.
He said that as of this week across Orange there were about 330 properties for sale or under offer which was well down on the 530 for the same time last year and 820 in 2016.
“There is a real, real shortage of houses on the market,” he said.
Mr McCormack said there several factors including an increasing population, more demand from Sydney investors and people seeking to move to Orange and a lack of land to build new houses.
“Orange has always grown west and north, but there is nothing growing west, there are no big land releases out there,” he said.
Mr McCormack said winter sales had been strong and he expected spring would be stronger.
Spring will be on steroids this year.
- Ash Brown, One Agency Orange real estate
He said many people were “garden proud in Orange” and preferred to sell their homes in spring when their property and the city were looking best.
One Agency Orange real estate licensee Ash Brown said winter had been a record.
“We’ve had our busiest winter since we’ve been trading,” he said.
“The demand is definitely there, there is not much stock around.
“If something is well priced it is not sitting around.
“There are a lot more buyers in the market than 12 months ago, or even six months ago.”
Mr Brown said he believed falls in the number of homes up for sale were partly because many homes were now being sold by agents to clients on their data bases before they were advertised.
“Definitely it is a seller’s market, there is no doubt about it,” he said.
Mr Brown said he expected the number of buyers and sellers entering the Orange market would increase in spring.
“Spring will be on steroids this year, I feel,” he said.
“Spring will be ridiculous, it’s already shaping up that way.”
Century 21 Combined Orange real estate director/sales Andrew Vogler said there was strong demand from people moving to Orange.
Mr Vogler there was demand from investors and tree-changers.
“We’re getting more of an increase in demand because Orange is seen as a wise place to live,” he said.
Mr Vogler said there were less properties on the market than normal and they were selling quicker.
“The days on market are certainly less,” he said.
“There is a shortage of land available for builders as well.
“People are holding off selling because of a lack of land to build their next house on.”
He said winter was a good time to sell in Orange.
“We find winter is the biggest selling time of the year, it is a good time because there are less properties on the market,” he said.
“If you wait till spring there might be three other houses on your street for sale.”
According to real estate website www.domain.com.au there were only 182 houses, 18 apartments, five townhouses, 47 blocks of land and 17 rural properties available for sale across Orange this week.
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