On a crisp winter Saturday morning, newlywed couple Ruban Parajuli and Arya Katel stand among more than 60 prospective buyers at a house auction in Sydney\u2019s inner-west suburb of Glebe.<\/p>\n
For the 25-year-olds, who have just begun house-hunting, attending their first auction is \u201ca bit scary\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone else here is a little bit older than us, so it\u2019s a bit daunting,\u201d Parajuli says. Katel adds: \u201cAlso, we\u2019re on a very restricted budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Within minutes of the auction beginning for the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house, bids go up by more than $200,000, forcing the couple to bow out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt escalated a bit quickly, faster than we were expecting \u2026 Plenty of notes to take to the second [auction],\u201d Parajuli says.<\/p>\n
The couple say their dream of home ownership lives on, despite the early blow, attributing their confidence to falls in property prices across Australia\u2019s capital cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the market is going down, we are just trying out our luck,\u201d Katel says.<\/p>\n
Parajuli says: \u201cAreas like Glebe were probably untouchable before and now they\u2019ve come into a bit of a touching range.\u201d<\/p>\n
An auctioneer seeks bids for a three-bedroom terrace in Erskineville. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
They are not alone in their optimism. At another auction the same morning, first home buyers crowd a quiet cul-de-sac in nearby Erskineville to bid on a three-bedroom terrace.<\/p>\n
A 22-year-old, who asks not to be identified, attends with his mother, who beams with excitement at her son\u2019s first auction. With property prices cooling, she says she is hopeful he could \u201cget a bargain\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not certain that 10% off the property market really fundamentally makes that much difference but, in a marginal way, I think that is good for some first home buyers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
A cooling market<\/p>\n
In June house prices fell across four capital cities, with Sydney and Melbourne recording their biggest one\u2011month decline in values in almost four years. More than half the homes taken to auction are not selling<\/a>, a sign that buyer demand has cooled.<\/p>\n The independent economist Peter Esho, founder of the property finance service Flexdoc, describes the cooling as \u201ca normal market cycle\u201d, pointing to the Reserve Bank\u2019s interest rate rises<\/a> this year as the main factor \u201cdampening prices\u201d.<\/p>\n