Spring is traditionally the most popular time to buy and sell property in Australia. Buyers can always be confident there’ll be plenty of properties to inspect, while sellers believe the return of warmer weather will improve their sale price.
And in normal times, they’d both be right. But with mortgage costs rising as the Reserve Bank endeavours to dampen inflation, what will the property be doing this spring and summer?
Buyers, especially, want to know whether they’ll see deep discounting. On the other hand, sellers will be determined to hold their price as much as possible, while still wanting to strike a deal. It’s a fascinating market.
As an experienced real estate agent in your area, we can tell you this scenario is more common than you might believe. Property prices and economic fortunes go hand in hand. You don’t need to dodge a recession to keep prices healthy, rather buyers must be confident in the future.
Ready access to credit and a strong employment outlook are two of the other ingredients important to a vibrant property market. And with unemployment at 3.5%, its lowest since 1974, buyers have reason to feel good about their futures.
So, we’ve outlined some of the likely market behaviours you’re going to experience over the next five to six months.
Bigger selection
Industry data says the spring campaign has begun with more properties on the market than in the past five years. That’s great news for buyers who can choose from a greater selection of homes. Sellers will face greater competition, however, so it’s vital that properties are well-presented.
Data details
Industry researcher PropTrack says we’ve had a 9.9% month-on-month jump in properties on the market for August. Year-on-year, that figure was 20%, in part because many of us were locked down 12 months ago. Sydney (+16.1%) and Melbourne (+13%) lead the east coast activity. Hobart is up 17% and the other capitals are in high single digits. Regions are up by almost 8%.
Careful optimism
CoreLogic, another collector of industry data, suggests that while we’ll have a strong selling season, it won’t compete with last year’s exuberance, which broke all sorts of records. We’ll see buyers more cautious due to the rising interest rate.
Seller flexibility
If you’re set on moving, you’ll need to be open to price negotiation. Buyers know the market mood has changed, and they’ll be looking for concessions. If sellers hold fast, their property may stay on the market longer than they want. A sensible approach is to find a win-win deal.
Cashing out
Given the continued strong values across Australia, we believe that downsizers are likely to be a strong seller segment.