Agents feel the welcome pressure of a listings uplift in the run up to autumn
A sudden sharp rise in stock listings is providing more choice for would-be property buyers but ratcheting up the challenges for many agents in the lead-up to the autumn selling season.
While most in the real estate industry are thrilled to see more supply finally coming onto the market after a lean November and December, they freely admit that it is making their lives tougher.
“It’s starting to feel very busy as this is a really short real estate cycle because Easter is very early this year,” says Zali Reynolds of Shelter Real Estate in Melbourne. “Everyone’s trying to get into the market before Easter and that Super Saturday, which brings a lot more pressure.
“But also, our job is definitely harder than it was pre-COVID. There are now much higher expectations that we have to meet. Before 2020, you’d just turn up to an open for inspection two minutes before and open the door. Now, I’m making sure everything looks its very best. I’m turning lights on, rearranging cushions, bringing the washing in off the line, getting out a cheese board and champagne …”
Because so many of us during the pandemic spent so much time flicking through social media looking at sensational homes online and realising how important a good place to live was to us – especially during those long Melbourne lockdowns – we now, apparently, demand much more from the properties we’re viewing.
Also, with our COVID-19 dependence on Uber Eats and online shopping, and Amazon often delivering the next day, we’re now far more impatient.
So when we want to see a house or apartment, we insist on that happening as soon as possible – that morning or afternoon – whether or not the family in residence might be ready.
“Good homes that are well presented will always sell well,” says Reynolds, who’s currently selling a fully renovated four-bedroom family bungalow at 77 Middlesex Street in Surrey Hills for $2.6 million to $2.8 million.
“And, as agents, we’re used to the market being cyclical, [with activity] ramping up and then ramping down.
“But it is tougher now. We have a normal amount of listings now, which feels like a lot as we’ve had so little before, and there’s a lot of positivity from buyers. As a result, it feels busier than it probably is.”
In Brisbane, the number of listings has also increased, but that can be similarly problematic for agents. Place Estate Agents managing director Sarah Hackett says there is a swelling tide of potential vendors considering selling their homes, but it often takes a great deal of effort to get them over the line.
“We’re now getting some quality stock and a lot of it is from clients who have their ‘forever’ homes but are now going through a different stage of their lives and are moving to an apartment or a smaller property,” she says.
“But those decisions can take years in the making. So the whole process can be pretty time-consuming and challenging for agents as the owners need to be persuaded to sell and often want a record price. You need to know your stuff and be able to hold a pretty sensitive discussion and be a good negotiator.”
One property Hackett has managed to get onto the market is 98 Virginia Avenue, Hawthorne – a prestige five-bedroom property set on over 2100 square metres with 20 metres of absolute river frontage. It’s likely to be competing with Brisbane’s highest-priced property, which went for $20.5 million.
“I spoke to the owners for nine years before they decided to sell,” Hackett says. “But the interesting thing is that when the market is quiet, people tend to want to go to the proven agents, with a good track record.
“So while the Brisbane market has been down 10 per cent in stock, Place has been up 25 per cent. People who are good will gain.”
In order to sell the higher number of listings, a good presence in the market is vital, and research has found that Domain’s marketing packages which bundle print in the Domain magazine with digital and social advertising result in 182 per cent more exposure in terms of views than a standalone Platinum sales listing in NSW.
It also has 298 per cent more engagement and generates 94 per cent more leads and 188 per cent more activity.
An audience study conducted by the Ipsos Iris Online Audience Measurement Service also found that 17 per cent of Domain’s audience don’t visit its nearest competitor, and most of that market is composed of serious, motivated, highly driven buyers.
In Sydney, there’s also been a big lift in listings on the market. Much of that is a result of improved buyer sentiment, with hopes that interest rates may fall later this year and in 2025.
“People know the worst of interest rates is over,” says Di Jones Lower North Shore regional partner Piers van Hamburg. “We now have good buyer demand and a real flood of listings that have come onto the market. I’m excited about the year ahead. It’s going to be a good one.”
Among the homes he’s selling is a three-bedroom house at 3/66 Kurraba Road, Neutral Bay, a stroll from Hayes Street Beach and the Neutral Bay ferry wharf.
On the other side of the harbour, Adrian William Newtown principal Adrian Tsavalas says stock is also healthy there at the moment. While the back end of 2023 was very quiet, now it feels like this year will be much better.
“There’s a lot of optimism in the market about rates being likely to come down,” he says. “But, of course, there are difficulties. It [normally] feels like there are a number of buyers who’ll stay on the sidelines and hope to bag a bargain … but that doesn’t seem to be the case this year.
“The reason Sydney keeps growing is that the supply is never enough to satisfy the demand.”
Tsavalas says he is seeing a fair number of two-bedroom apartments coming onto the market for between $800,000 and $1 million, and two-bedroom houses from $1.35 million to $1.75 million. The real dearth of stock, however, is in family homes from about $2 million to $2.5 million.
“There’s not enough of those, and a lot of demand for them,” he says.
Meanwhile, back in Melbourne, Lloyd Lawton of Jellis Craig Fitzroy says there are even more listings in February than there were in January, and he hopes the increase will continue into March.
“Lots of buyers are trying to get in before Easter,” he says. “We’ve had up to 20 groups coming through some opens in February. It looks like it’s going to be a good year in real estate.”
We recommend
We thought you might like
States
Capital Cities
Capital Cities - Rentals
Popular Areas
Allhomes
More
