Market Update - APril #2
The Lower North Shore Has Softened. Here's Why That's the Best News for Buyers in Years.
Right now, the Mazar Martin team is actively buying on Sydney’s Lower North Shore. Not waiting. Not watching. Buying – at auctions in Mosman and Cremorne, in post-auction negotiations in Neutral Bay, in private conversations with selling agents across Cammeray, Lane Cove and Crows Nest. Our clients are in the market this week. Here is why.
Sydney and Melbourne dwelling values have been moving backwards since February, with Cotality’s rolling daily index sitting at -0.04 per cent as of late April 2026. The Lower North Shore has felt that softening. Clearance rates are down. Vendor expectations have reset. The market has moved.
For sellers, that is uncomfortable. For buyers – and for the clients we are actively representing right now – it is the moment they have been waiting for.
Here is the point that most property commentary misses: the Lower North Shore softening is not the same as the outer-ring softening. It does not carry the same risks, the same structural vulnerability, or the same recovery timeline. This is tightly held, owner-occupier-dominated land with genuine harbour access, the state’s most sought-after school catchments, and a supply profile that does not change. When a market with those fundamentals softens, it does not stay soft. What it does is briefly become negotiable – and that window is open right now.
“The Lower North Shore has felt the same rate pressure as the rest of Sydney, what is different is what underpins values here. The land doesn’t change. The harbour doesn’t change. The schools don’t change. The buyers who move now are acquiring those fundamentals at prices that reflect today’s soft sentiment – not the demand that comes back when confidence returns.”
GERARD MAZAR
Director, Mazar Martin Buyers Advisory
The evidence for the structural floor is consistent. API Magazine’s 2026 outlook identified premium Lower North Shore properties as among those most likely to recover and outperform once the rate cycle turns. ANZ Research’s Sydney-wide forecast of -0.7% for 2026 is concentrated in outer-ring and high-density markets – the Lower North Shore’s softening is real but shallower, and its recovery is expected to be faster.
“Foot traffic has changed character more than it has changed volume, the speculative and panic-driven buyers have stepped back. The people still attending are serious – finance-approved, clear on their brief, ready to move. There are fewer of them competing for the same property. That shift is significant.”
CHELSEA WAEREA-HARGREAVES
Associate Buyers Agent – Mazar Martin Buyers Advisory
“A softening Lower North Shore market is genuinely rare. We have been through multiple cycles and the window where these suburbs are negotiable – where a motivated vendor in Cremorne or Neutral Bay is willing to have a real conversation about price – does not stay open long. It is open now.”
JEREMY MARTIN
Director, Mazar Martin Buyers Advisory – Buyers Agents, Lower North Shore
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Cotality records show the Sydney clearance rate sitting at 60.8% – a 2026 low. Four consecutive weeks of softening. National weekly auction volumes are up 24% on the same week last year. Across Sydney broadly, more properties are going to auction with fewer bidders competing for each one. On the Lower North Shore specifically, total listings have contracted from 299 to 244 across March – meaning the properties that are on market are the ones whose vendors have genuinely processed real feedback and are ready to transact at today’s price. These are not the conditions that characterise a market where buyers should be standing back. They are the conditions that define a window – and Mazar Martin’s clients are walking through it right now.
Do you need a buyers agent on the Lower North Shore?
The Lower North Shore is one of Sydney’s most complex and competitive property markets. Here is an honest assessment of when a buyers agent adds the most value:
- You are buying in a suburb you do not know intimately – even experienced buyers underestimate Lower North Shore micro-market variation at the street level
- You are time-poor – the search process in this market demands consistent weekly presence and direct agent relationships
- You are buying at auction – auction strategy and bidding on the Lower North Shore requires specific preparation and in-market experience
- You are an expat or interstate buyer – purchasing without eyes on the ground in a prestige market is high-risk
- You want off-market access – without agent relationships, you will not see this stock
- You want to negotiate from strength – an independent buyers agent brings market intelligence and negotiating experience that private buyers rarely have access to
How much does a buyers agent cost on the Lower North Shore?
Buyers agent fees are structured as a fixed engagement fee, a success fee on purchase, or a combination. At Mazar Martin, we are transparent about our fee structure from the first call. For most clients, the saving achieved on purchase price – combined with the time, risk and stress removed from the process – means the fee pays for itself many times over.
