This Glebe townhouse sold for $2.19 million. Its quiet auction revealed something about the property market

In a boom market, a three-bedroom fixer-upper in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe would whip up interest among investors and first home-buyers.

But on Saturday, this property on Bellevue Street, on sale for the first time in decades, attracted only two serious bidders. It tells of a shifting market as prospective buyers reconsider their options after federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced arguably the most consequential tax changes in a decade.

The overhaul was aimed at making it easier for first home buyers. However, among a crowd of about 30, mostly middle-aged couples or Boomers, there appeared to be none in sight.

Alicia Hamidi, who bowed out of bidding in Glebe before the property was sold to a couple for $2.19 million, had adjusted her strategy. She and her real estate agent husband sold their current property in Darlinghurst and were seeking a new primary residence rather than an investment while staying put in their old home.

“As a primary owner, I had to change how we were going to buy,” she said. “Initially, we would have bought [this property], keeping our primary residence in Darlinghurst. But for us to maximise building wealth, in Sydney in particular – because we are not leaving Sydney – we sold our house, we’ll rent, and we’ll treat [our next home] as our primary.

“I understand how challenging it is for people in this market, and I’ve got a lot of time for people who are just trying to get a foot in. It’s really hard … Property is the only way to make money in Sydney at the moment.”

Hamidi is among many Sydneysiders changing their approach to a market that has been driven for decades by discounts on capital gains and negative gearing. The preliminary clearance rate again hovered around the lowly 50 per cent mark on Saturday.

Financial adviser Andrew Saikal-Skea said some of his clients had paused their purchasing plans and were reassessing “rent-vesting” strategies since the reforms were announced.

“They’re renting in a place that they want to live, but they can’t quite afford to buy there,” he said. “Negative gearing was going to allow them to do the step-up into the place that they wanted to live without property prices falling away from them again.”

Saikal-Skea said the lower capital gains tax discount meant it no longer made sense to hold on to some long-held properties. “Those clients will likely sell them and then move the capital elsewhere. That’s probably a good thing, honestly … It makes more properties move that previously [people] were reluctant to sell.”

Since budget night, investors have been in a “panic to sell”, said Dino Del Medico, director of accounting practice Austens.

“The dust hasn’t even settled on this, but it feels like this is going to create a lot of people being anxious and irrational,” he said.

“There were always risks … but I think that people felt as though [property] was pretty much a sure thing.

“There’s been a little bit of a shift [in] the opinion. There’s a pause and a sense of, ‘Hang on, maybe property is not the only way … and the good times are [not] just going to continue.’”

Bluebird Accounting chief executive Liz Shimmin has urged her clients to “hold their horses” since the tax reforms were unveiled, noting the company’s advice would be informed by the legislation that has yet to be tabled in parliament.

Shimmin has encountered “a lot of confusion and misinformation” among clients, especially regarding the Albanese government’s proposed changes to trusts. She has noticed “astute investors” pulling away from the housing market since the budget was handed down, or pivoting to new builds that can be negatively geared beyond July 2027.

“We’re just really holding their hand, talking through worries and fears at the moment, telling them just to take a breath,” Shimmin said.

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