Latest news with #east coast
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Freeze grips home sales after RBA moves leave homeowners in limbo
Mounting speculation over further interest rate cuts has spurred a winter freeze across the Sydney housing market as buyers and sellers await the outcome of the next Reserve Bank rates decision before making a move. PropTrack's June 2025 Listings Report has revealed a 13 per cent decline in new listings across Sydney over the past month. Current listings are also about 5.2 per cent lower than at the same time last year. Many of the homeowners delaying plans to sell their homes are likely to also be buyers, with upsizers and downsizers normally making up a significant share of the buyer pool. A slump in new listings has occured as total listings rise, suggesting a market where buyers have a large selection of older listings but few fresh options. It's an anomaly on the east coast when compared to other capitals like Melbourne and Brisbane, where both new and total listings have declined since last year. PropTrack economist Angus Moore said the data demonstrated that Sydney properties were spending longer on the market recently. 'The fact we're seeing a bit more stock on market despite a smaller flow of new listings reflects homes taking a little longer to sell than they were a year ago,' he said. 'Though the difference isn't large, and homes are still selling faster than they were pre-pandemic.' With a prospective cash rate cut in the future, Mr Moore said things would soon improve for sellers. 'We're expecting to see a couple more rate cuts this year,' he said. 'Coupled with the fact Sydney home prices have been consistently increasing this year after a soft period in late 2024, that's likely to support vendor confidence.' Scerri Auctions director Chris Scerri said compared to June last year, auction figures were 'a little bit down'. He added that this kind of decline was seasonal and sales would 'increase significantly' come Spring, and that future rate cuts would also provide a boost to buyer confidence, auction turnouts and bids. 'As soon as there's talk of an interest-rate cut, (loan) applications and reapplications increase,' he said. 'That just gives more confidence which means increased buyer numbers.' 'At the moment our average buyer number is about 3.5 per auction, and then of those buyers about 50-60 per cent are actually bidding.'
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
North Korea bans foreigners from seaside resort weeks after opening
Lavrov hailed the seaside development as a "good tourist attraction", and said he hoped it would become popular among Russians, AFP reported. The two countries are set to launch direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang by the end of the month. A Russian tour guide previously told NK News that they had planned several more trips to the resort in the coming months. Wonsan, a city along North Korea's east coast, is home to some of the country's missile facilities and a large maritime complex. It's also where Kim spent much of his youth, among holiday villas belonging to the country's elites. The new seaside resort has lined 4km (2.5 miles) of its beachfront with hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and a water park. It has a capacity of some 20,000 people, according to state media. However, since the resort began construction in 2018, human rights groups have protested the alleged mistreatment of its workers. They point to reports of people being forced to work long hours to finish the massive project, under harsh conditions and inadequate compensation. Russian ambassadors attended the resort's completion ceremony on 24 June, along with Kim and his family. Last year, North Korea allowed Russian tourists to visit North Korea after a years-long suspension of tourism during the pandemic. In February, North Korea also started to receive tourists from the West, including Australia, France, Germany and the UK. It abruptly halted tourism weeks later, however, without saying why.
