"Compared to the last market, vendors have told us to leave their unsold properties on the market [over the holidays].

"There may be difficulties in getting credit but at the point of sale, there's quite a reasonable appetite ... there's still cash in the market."

The overhang of unsold properties stemmed from buyers' unwillingness to commit at auctions for fear they might pay too much under pressure, later coming back to negotiate on the properties privately, Mr Whitney said.

Mr Whitney's firm's sale of the big 358sq m block, 19 Westmoreland Street in Glebe, Sydney for $2.45 million on January 18 came after it had been passed in at $1.8 million during its December auction. The new buyer was one of two new buyers competing for it in January.

He cautioned that 19 Westmoreland Street's final price - higher than auction - was more of an anomaly with more homes selling at less than auction or at the lower end of price guides.

The sale of a large two-bedroom 89sq m apartment at 32 Waine Street Freshwater on Sydney's northern beaches supports this. It sold for $645,000 last Friday, but had an initial asking price of $675,000 when it first listed in October.

In Melbourne, a four-bedroom house at Baddeley Circuit, Croydon sold for $1.2 million last week. The asking price was $1.15 million to $1.265 million in early November.

A home in Hasken Court in Melbourne's Berwick sold for $658,000 on January 14, but its owners wanted between $680,000 to $720,000 since November.


The sales also highlight homes are on the market for much longer.

Domain's latest update shows the average days on market for houses and units at the end of December is now about 70 to 71 compared with 44 to 54 days the same time last year.

Melbourne fares better with days on market for units improving to 70 days from 80 days. Houses, however, are taking 52 days to sell compared with 41 a year ago.

Private sales also continue to be strong in regional areas. The areas with the most sales last week in NSW include Armidale, Nowra, Orange and Tamworth. In Victoria, areas like Highton and Frankston had the highest number of sales.

Privates sales are on track to take off in 2019 as the market is forecast to keep slowing, although agents will still recommend auctions in the first instance, Mr Whitney adds.

While auction numbers is an indicator of market activity in Sydney and Melbourne, they represent a small proportion of sales, most of which are private. Outside of Sydney and Melbourne, private sales are more common.