- 13a/1110 Middle Head Rd, Mosman
- mon@mazarmartin.com.au
- +61 411 331 389
Conditions on the lower north shore haven’t favoured buyers this clearly in years. With vendors recalibrating their expectations, auction volumes surging ahead of Easter, and two rate rises already absorbed by the market, motivated sellers are ready to negotiate — and informed buyers are making their best moves right now.
We are Gerard Mazar and Jeremy Martin of Mazar Martin Buyers Advisory. Each week we analyse the data, walk the suburbs, and sit across the negotiating table from selling agents across Mosman, Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Lane Cove, Cammeray, Crows Nest and surrounds. What the numbers are showing us right now is one of the clearest buyer entry points in the current cycle. Here is the full picture.
Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate came in at 60.8% this week – the softest result of 2026, and a clear signal the market is tilting in favour of buyers. Nationally the figure was 62.7%, also a 2026 low. Every capital city softened in unison.
The volume picture is equally compelling. 1,008 Sydney homes went to auction this week – up 24% on the same week last year. More stock, wider selection, and far fewer competing bidders. For a well-prepared buyer with a clear brief, this combination is rare.
The lower north shore sits comfortably above the Sydney average, anchored by the enduring appeal of suburbs including Mosman, Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Lane Cove, Cammeray and Crows Nest. Lifestyle demand here remains strong – but even here, the balance has shifted meaningfully toward buyers.
“Four consecutive weeks of softening clearance rates. For our clients, that is not a reason for caution — it is the signal we’ve been waiting for. A falling market is where prepared buyers build real wealth. The opportunity is right in front of you.”
Sydney dwelling values have recorded effectively flat growth over the past 28 days. Quarterly: down 0.1%. Annual growth remains a solid +5.5% – no crash, no distress – but the short-term momentum pause is creating meaningful room to negotiate, especially at the upper end.
The divergence between property types is the most pronounced it has been all year. Units are clearing at 73.9% nationally versus 61.3% for houses. On the lower north shore – where apartments represent 72% of all transactions year-to-date – the unit market in Neutral Bay, Crows Nest and Cammeray remains active. The premium house market in Mosman, Cremorne and other harbourside suburbs, however, presents a compelling opportunity right now.
Lower-quartile Sydney house values rose 0.8% last month. Upper-quartile values edged back 0.9%. If you are buying a prestige home on the lower north shore, the data is firmly on your side.
The RBA has raised twice in 2026 – February and March – bringing the cash rate to 3.85%. ANZ confirmed it is passing the March increase to variable rate borrowers effective this week. Two hikes translate to roughly $750 per month in additional repayments on a $1.5 million loan – a meaningful adjustment that has recalibrated vendor expectations across the lower north shore.
Futures markets currently price a 30–40% chance of a third hike in April. Buyer sentiment, as measured by the Westpac consumer confidence index, has softened to 82.9 – a cycle low. That softness is real. But here is the considered view: buying now, while vendors are recalibrating and buyer competition is low, positions you ahead of the crowd that returns when rates stabilise. The buyers who act in this window – in Mosman, Neutral Bay, Lane Cove, Cremorne – will look back at this period as one of the clearest entry points in the cycle.
“Two rate rises have done something twelve months of negotiating couldn’t — they have genuinely reset vendor expectations. The vendors who are engaging with the market seriously right now are not holding out for last year’s prices. They want to transact. That is precisely the market where our buyers do best.”
The statistics tell the story in aggregate. The real opportunity on the lower north shore right now is in the individual conversations with vendors whose campaigns have run four to six weeks – vendors who have processed real market feedback and are genuinely ready to transact.
Here is what a motivated lower north shore seller looks like right now:
Early buyer feedback came in below expectations. The vendor has reviewed real comparable sales data. The reserve is now set at a realistic level.
The agent has had the honest conversation. The vendor has set aside last year’s numbers and is working with the market as it is today — not as it was four, six or twelve months ago.
Not stale — but acutely aware the clock is ticking. Flexible settlement terms and a clean transaction matter as well as the actual price. This is where creative deal structures deliver value to both sides.
Agents working with genuinely motivated vendors are transparent and returning calls. That accessibility is its own signal.
“When an auction passes in on the lower north shore right now, that is our moment. We can go straight to the selling agent, negotiate, and quite often can walk away with a result that would have been near impossible at the height of the market. Passed-in properties in a softening market are not failures – they are opportunities.”
The weekly clearance and sentiment data sits within a broader monthly story that reinforces exactly the same message. Here is the full picture for March 2026.
MARKET INDICATOR | FIGURE |
Total house listings (end March) | 244 |
Auction properties | 100 (41%) |
Auctions scheduled — 28 March | 36 (down from 71 at start of week) |
New sales (week ending 28 March) | 22 |
Total listings decline across March | 299 → 244 (−18.4%) |
Average guide price (new listings) | $5,816,667 |
Average sale price (sold properties) | $4,590,040 |
Sydney clearance rate (wk 27 Mar) | 60.8% — softest of 2026 |
Sydney auctions this week | 1,008 |
RBA cash rate | 3.85% (two hikes in 2026) |
Westpac consumer confidence | 82.9 (cycle low) |
“Every metric in the March data points the same direction: less stock, more sales, softening clearance rates. Most buyers see a confusing picture. We see a window. When listings contract and vendors have adjusted their expectations, the buyers who are ready to move – and who know how to negotiate – secure the best assets at prices that weren’t on offer earlier in the year.”
One of the most valuable things a buyers agent can do is interpret sales results rather than simply report them. The sold data from the week ending 27 March 2026 contains important lessons for any buyer active on the lower north shore.
Across 22 house sales recorded in the week, the spread between guide price and sale price ranged from −30.8% to +21%. That is an enormous range, and it highlights a consistent truth about the lower north shore auction market: the guide price is frequently not the true price.
On the upside, 36a Second Avenue, Lane Cove achieved $3.625 million against an initial guide of $3 million — a 20.8% premium driven by competitive bidding. On the downside, 10 Courallie Road, Northbridge reportedly sold at $8.2 million versus a guide of $11.85 million — a 30.8% discount reflecting a property requiring significant work and a vendor ready to transact. Without understanding the context behind each result, a buyer cannot interpret them accurately.
“A 60.8% clearance rate means roughly four in ten properties are passing in. That is a negotiating environment. We attend those auctions with our clients, let the property pass in if need be, and then we get to work. The vendor has just had a very public reality check. That is when the real conversation begins.”
The sold data illustrates the variety of methods through which properties transact. Pre-auction sales were common across Cammeray, Mosman, Naremburn and Neutral Bay. Post-auction sales occurred in Chatswood, Hunters Hill and Willoughby. Each method requires a different strategy — speed and certainty before auction, patience after it, and composure on the day. These are skills honed through thousands of transactions, not a handful of open inspections.
Nine new house listings came to market in the final week of March 2026, with an average guide price of $5,816,667. The standout is 32 Stanton Road, Mosman — 841sqm, eastern aspect, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, double lock-up garage, with an EOI closing 18 April at a $12.5 million guide. In Hunters Hill, 69 Alexandra Street offers 790sqm with triple lock-up garage at $9 million. Cremorne’s 120 Macpherson Street is guided at $6 million, while three Chatswood properties in the $3–$3.7 million range add further depth to an active mid-market.
“The listings coming to market right now, from Mosman at $12.5 million to Chatswood at $3 million, are hitting a market where vendor expectations have come down and buyer competition is thin. If even one of those auctions passes in, and we’re in the room, our clients are in a position that simply did not exist twelve months ago.”
The case for engaging a buyers agent on Sydney’s lower north shore has never been stronger. Every selling agent is working exclusively in the vendor’s interests – paid by the seller, motivated to maximise the sale price. If you walk into a negotiation or an auction without your own professional representation, you are facing an experienced opponent alone. In the current market, where motivated vendors are negotiable but only to informed counterparties, that asymmetry is costly.
“Our strategy in this market is not complicated: we go to the auction, we watch the room, and if the property passes in, we are first through the selling agent’s door. A vendor who just watched their property fail to sell under the hammer is motivated in a way they haven’t been for the entire campaign. That could be the moment to buy – and that is the moment we prepare our clients for.”
“The buyers who look back on 2026 as the year they got it right will be the ones who understood that a softening market is not a reason to wait — it is the reason to act. We exist to make sure our clients are the ones in the room when the opportunity is real, not the ones reading about it six months later wondering what they missed.”
All suburbs on Sydney’s lower north shore: Mosman, Cremorne, Cremorne Point, Neutral Bay, Cammeray, Hunters Hill, Kirribilli, North Sydney, Waverton, Crows Nest, Naremburn, Willoughby, Chatswood, and Lane Cove.
Yes – and in the current low-stock environment this is one of the most significant advantages a buyers agent provides. Our relationships with selling agents across the lower north shore mean clients frequently have access to properties before they are publicly advertised.
The data says yes. Stock is tightening, vendor expectations have recalibrated and clearance rates are at cycle lows creating negotiating leverage. Buyers who are ready to act are in a stronger position than those who wait.
The average guide price across new listings in the final week of March 2026 was $5,816,667. The average sale price across transactions was $4,590,040. Prices vary significantly by suburb, type, land size and aspect — which is why independent price assessment is critical before any purchase.
Call Gerard or Jeremy directly. No forms, no intake process, no junior staff. A straight conversation about what’s available on the lower north shore right now, what’s realistic, and whether this is the right moment for you.
Specialist buyers agent across Mosman, Neutral Bay, Cremorne and the harbourside market from Willoughby to Chatswood.
Specialist buyers agent across Lane Cove, Cammeray, Crows Nest and the village precincts from Mosman to Cremorne.
