How long does it take to sell a house in the current property market? Faster than you think

Houses are taking longer to sell in every capital city in Australia, except for Adelaide, with the average number of days on market for properties offered for sale by private treaty stretching up to 29 days more.

But while that’s generally indicative of the market’s steady slowdown, that sales period is still far shorter than the time it took to sell a property before the pandemic.

“It’s still a healthy time frame and we’re seeing more stock on the market now, good opportunities to buy and prices no longer extreme,” said Brian White, chairman of real estate agency Ray White.

“Those days on market often depend on vendors’ expectations and, with price growth softening, some are taking a while to adjust. Buyers are able now to take their time, and they’re not being pushed into quick decisions by the fear of missing out and ending up buying houses they don’t really want or don’t suit them.”

In Sydney, the time taken to sell a house has risen to 48 days from a low point of 31 days in December; in Melbourne, it’s now 58 days compared to December’s 38 days; and in Brisbane, it’s 41 days as against its low point of 31 days in June this year.

In the other capital cities, Canberra is now taking 49 days, up from its lowest number of 22 in November; in Perth it’s 54 up from June’s low of 47; in Darwin, the city has the highest number of days on market at 102 compared to June’s 100; and in Hobart, it’s now 46 days, up by the most from 17 in November and December.

Only Adelaide has bucked the trend, with its days on market falling to 59 from July’s 62, June’s 63 and March’s 70.

“The market has changed post-COVID and the rapid rise in interest rates, as well as the rapid increase in inflation, has proven unsettling for many buyers,” said the managing director of Richardson & Wrench, Andrew Cocks. 

“Many are feeling uncertain and insecure and are sitting on their hands, waiting to see what’s going to happen next.

“The interest rate rises have reduced borrowing capacity for the majority who need a mortgage to buy a home and it’s very hard when they don’t know what they need to borrow between making an offer and settling. So it’s inevitable that properties will take longer to sell.”

Many believe the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy on interest rates is draining confidence from the market, which is holding sales back. 

Belle Property head of growth Australasia Nick Boyd said the combination of prices softening – with some vendors not meeting the market and pricing their properties too high – and those elevated interest rates were both extending the sales period.

“The RBA needs to give us a pathway forward to let everyone have confidence on both ways,” he said. 

“Consumer confidence has dropped and banks are lending less money, so that’s hurting the market at the moment.

“But what I’m now sensing is a bit more equilibrium coming in. We’re seeing an uptick on auction clearance and vendors being more realistic about their properties’ market value and making wiser decisions, thinking they might as well sell now as they don’t know what will happen with prices in future. So, we’re likely to see days on market fall again.”

The majority of Australia’s fastest-selling suburbs were in Queensland over August, the figures also show, revealing areas like The Gap and Enoggera, Sunnybank and Bald Hills and Everton Park are selling like hotcakes.

The only area outside of Queensland to make the top 10 fastest-selling suburbs was the north-east region of Hobart, where houses are selling in 27 days. That’s up from 18 days compared to the same time last year.

Even though the number of days on market has climbed in most capital cities, it’s still way below the median number we saw before the pandemic in all cities bar Hobart.

In January 2020, for instance, houses in Sydney were taking 77 days to sell as opposed to 48 in August 2022, in Melbourne 71 against 51 now, and in Brisbane a mammoth 94, more than double today’s 41.

Canberra was taking 72 days as against 49; Perth was an astonishing 133 against 54; Darwin was 179 against 102; Adelaide was 99 against 59; and only Hobart was steady, at 46 days back pre-COVID, the same as now.

Back before the pandemic, housing values were recovering after bottoming out in June 2019 but were still below 2017 peaks, and the interest rate had been cut to a historically low 0.75 per cent (as against 2.35 per cent now) to kick-start the struggling economy.

“At that point, too, stock levels were higher so the days on market were more,” Boyd said. “And market cycles, both positive and negative, are driven by the availability of funds so interest rates are significant.”

In addition, COVID gave us a much bigger appetite for property, Cocks said. 

“A lot of people built up a lot of cash and we placed more value on our houses, especially with being able to work from home,” he said.

“Things went nuts, but now it’s started to come back to where it needs to be.

“So when good properties become available, people will still buy them, especially with the increase in skilled migration levels and return of students leading to a lot more people all needing somewhere to live.”