December 2016 Newsletter

2016 DRAWS TO A CLOSE

By David Servi

Sydney’s property market grew strongly through 2016. Sky-high auction clearances were fuelled by feverish bidding, especially by those buyers who feared being left high and dry as their money stagnated in low interest bank accounts.
 
Dire predictions that Sydney’s so-called property bubble was in imminent danger of bursting were proved wrong, yet some owners considering selling held back: perhaps wary of unforeseen political and economic developments – both globally and in Australia. Britain’s ‘Brexit’ vote to leave the European Union along with the election of the unpredictable Donald Trump as US president spooked world markets. At the same time, uncertainty about Australia’s economic prospects and the slowing of coal and iron ore exports damped economic optimism here at home.  Defying all these external factors, Sydney property forged onwards, riding a wave that has yet to be stopped, or even slowed.

Spencer & Servi principal David Servi expects this strong price growth to continue in 2017, coupled with the return of vendors’ confidence. Sydney’s natural boundaries of national park and ocean and the fixed supply of inner-city properties will keep the market accelerating, David says, regardless of external factors. All the pundits who have predicted a slow-down, or worse, have been confounded by the market’s continuing strength. So potential vendors should have confidence, David concludes, and seize the moment. “Now is a good time to think about selling, before the market is flooded with properties in the coming months”, he says. “It’s sensible to capitalise on a sellers’ market. A property offered for sale early in the new year will get more attention than it might later in the year, when it’s likely the market will again be crowded with listings”.

For Spencer & Servi, 2016 has been a year to regroup, refine, and renew: with all hands on deck to cement the agency’s reputation for the best in personal service and up-to-the-minute marketing.
Some bright new faces joined the agency, including Sarah Moore as sales manager, who brings a wealth of experience and property market understanding to add to the considerable skills of Spencer & Servi’s long-established team of expert agents.

The stylish new Spencer & Servi website, launched in 2016, has been showered with compliments: browsers find it easy to navigate and easy on the eye, and the professional photography showcased on the site continues to be one of the agency’s strengths.

Spencer & Servi’s property videos, too, have proved extremely popular – bringing properties to life with professionally shot and edited moving images produced by the agency’s own in-house videographer, Matthew Minnett. These videos have been used on websites – including Spencer & Servi’s own website – as well as making an impact on social media. Videos are perfect for drawing browsers’ attention on, say, Facebook, where they pack far more of a punch than still images.
 
David expects more and more videos, with a creative twist, to become an integral part of the agency’s marketing packages in the coming year, and it seems certain most will include aerial footage taken using Spencer & Servi’s drone. “Videos are already an essential tool”, he says, “and I expect we will be providing new and even better variations on this theme in the months to come”.