HOMEOWNERS in pockets of Sydney have been selling properties for up to 30 per cent below their advertised price after a steep fall in buyer demand.

Property experts claim sellers have been forced to accept GFC-level price declines due to a weakening market which makes it difficult to achieve the inflated sums properties were fetching six months or even a year ago.

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Sydney’s median home price fell 1.3 per cent over the three months to December and by another 2.5 per cent in the following three months to March, according to property research group CoreLogic.

The latest three-month decline was the largest since August 2008, near the height of the GFC, and helped push the typical price of a home back down to $880,743.

Further falls are expected — CoreLogic forecasts the citywide median home price will drop a total five per cent over 2018.

The soft market means sellers are facing rising competition from other homeowners also vying for buyer interest.

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There are currently about 25 per cent more homes for sale compared to a year ago and only 80 per cent as many people actively looking for property, industry figures reveal.

Buyers have capitalised by dragging sellers to the negotiating table.

The average house seller in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst had to cut 30.6 per cent off their advertised price to sell.

Bellevue Hill sellers dropped their prices by an average of 16 per cent before selling, while in Vaucluse the adjustment was 13 per cent.

Down south, sellers in nearby suburbs Sutherland and Alfords Point slashed an average of more than 15 per cent off their listed prices prior to selling.

Other suburbs where sellers discounted their prices by more than 10 per cent included Narrabeen, Cammeray, Tempe, Coogee, Mascot, Belfield and Matraville.

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CoreLogic senior analyst Cameron Kusher said sellers were dropping asking prices because buyers were fatigued.

“Sydney prices have hit the point where they’re unaffordable for a lot of buyers. The prices some sellers are setting initially are not what buyers are prepared to pay,” Mr Kusher said.

Recent listings with high prices relative to the condition of the homes include a terrace on Harris St in Balmain listed with a guide of $1.65 million.

The three-bedroom home is uninhabitable with caved in ceilings and other damage.

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A Stanmore terrace in even worse condition is listed at $1 million. The walls are riddled with cracks and parts of the floors and roof have collapsed. It too requires hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore it to a liveable standard.

There are also a range of other homes currently advertised at considerable discounts.

A four-bedroom duplex on West St in northern beaches suburb Balgowlah is currently listed for $325,000 below its original price of $1.9 million.

In Belfield in the Canterbury area, a home at Statham St is being offered at a $275,000 discount on the initial listed price of $1.45 million.

A two-bedroom unit on Liverpool St in Darlinghurst is advertised at $100,000 below the original listed price of $1.5 million.

Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee said it was inevitable that sellers would reach a point where they could no longer command prices $100,000 or $200,000 above what comparable properties sold for months ago and still find a keen buyer.

“Sydney pricing has been extreme for many years,” she said. “We’ve now hit the point where buyers can no longer continue to keep paying more.”

Cobden and Hayson agent Samantha Elvy, who is selling the rundown home on Balmain’s Harris St, said fewer prospective buyers were going through open homes in general terms.

Exceptional properties on the other hand were still attracting keen interest, she said. “Fixer uppers like (the Harris St home) are rare so they get a lot of inquiries.”

LARGEST 3-MONTH MEDIAN PRICE FALLS BY LGA

NORTH: Mosman units -1.9%

EAST: Woollahra houses -2.1%

WEST: Camden units -1.7%

SOUTH: Botany Bay units -3.6%

INNER WEST: Ashfield houses -6%

(Source: CoreLogic, December quarter)