Dream comes true in a `scary' market: [G Vic First Edition]
Alison Rawle, John Stapleton. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 04 Dec 2003: 2.
Abstract
She figures it was her good fortune to be bidding on a night when the day's interest rate rise had frightened off many potential bidders and taken the frenzy out of the overheated Sydney property market.
Ms Long said she had been smitten with the large home at Crows Nest on Sydney's sought-after lower north shore because it was perfect for her teenage boys. But she was desperately worried she just didn't have enough money.
LJ Hooker auctioneer Alan Ross, who conducted last night's auction, said he still believed Sydney was a growth market.
FOR Primrose Long, yesterday's interest rate increase makes the property market real scary. So scary, that the single mum with three boys reckons it's a good time to put down $1.5 million for her dream home.
All day, ahead of last night's Sydney auction, she had been telling herself: "I'm not going to get it, I'm not going to get it".
But she figures it was her good fortune to be bidding on a night when the day's interest rate rise had frightened off many potential bidders and taken the frenzy out of the overheated Sydney property market.
Ms Long said she had been smitten with the large home at Crows Nest on Sydney's sought-after lower north shore because it was perfect for her teenage boys. But she was desperately worried she just didn't have enough money.
"My friends said, `The market's down, you've got a chance'," she said.
As the bidding went higher and higher, beginning at $850,000 and rapidly topping $1 million, most of the bidders dropped out, leaving just Ms Long and another bidder. "They were gorgeous gay guys," Ms Long said.
But at $1.45 million the couple dropped out, saying: "We're out. We want that nice lady over there to get it."
An excited Ms Long closed the deal at $1.5 million, saying "I'm shaking". She would have gone higher. "In my mind I've already got the furniture moved in," she said.
Ms Long said having just sold her previous house before the market slowed she had the cash.
"Everyone is scared, everyone is really, really scared," she said. "The market has soured very quickly. Properties are being passed in. That was the only thing that was making me feel confident."
Agent Ivo Porfiri, who did the bidding on behalf of Ms Long, said: "For anyone buying, it's a good time, there's no dispute about that. I'm encouraging buyers to buy now."
He said prices would pick up again as soon as people realised how good the economy really was.
LJ Hooker auctioneer Alan Ross, who conducted last night's auction, said he still believed Sydney was a growth market.
"People are factoring in the idea that interest rates were going up," he said.
"We're still seeing strong buyer inquiry, people are just taking a little bit longer about their decision-making."
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