A rush of listings on the Australian sharemarket last year has boosted the real estate industry's hopes of a price lift in some of the nation's most expensive suburbs.
The industry's hopes are based on the expectation that investment bankers will once again receive bonus payments and business owners will be cashed up after taking their companies public.
With new companies worth more than $4 billion hitting the boards last year, and at a time when investment bankers receive bonuses, some high-end car dealerships are increasing advertising spending while real estate agents report that sellers are placing properties on the market in the hope that higher pay in the finance sector triggers more buying.
Raine & Horne Crows Nest director David Hill said investment bankers had already made property purchase inquiries ahead of anticipated bonus payments.
One investment banker based in Singapore had placed his investment property on Sydney's lower north shore up for sale in anticipation of strong buyer interest, Mr Hill said.
"He is selling it because he thinks there is going to be a good flow through of bonus money this year, which we haven't seen for a few years," he said.
"In that same sort of market -- the $2.5-$3 million mark -- some buyers have said, 'We will be there in February, we will just wait and see what our bonuses are'."
Home prices on Sydney's lower north shore gained at least 8 per cent in the last year, he said.
But with the sharemarket recently coming off the boil, Mr Hill said there could also be a move by people to sell equities and reinvest in real estate. "There is always that correlation between a good run in the sharemarket, then obviously the smart people take it out, and with interest rates so low, property is starting to look attractive," he said.
While Ben Collier from McGrath Estate Agents in Sydney's eastern suburbs questioned the size of bonuses paid to those in the financial sector, given the challenges many investment banks had faced in the last few years, a proportion of inquiry was from the banking sector.
Mark Goldman, principal at Raine & Horne Double Bay in Sydney's eastern suburbs, said he had a couple of real estate deals over the past few months after people had sold their businesses in the $20-$50 million price range.
"Not listed companies or businesses of a medium size, but the smaller businesses," he said.
Mr Goldman was optimistic about receiving business from those in finance.
"It is very beneficial for our business if they do get bonuses," he said. "If you look at what is happening and the stockmarket is up and the banks have done extremely well, they should be paid bonuses."