Welcome to Spring, personally this has to be one of the best times of the year weather wise also not forgetting before we know it we will be getting some time off to spend with family and friends over Christmas. Most of us know that September onwards is traditionally the best time of the year to sell real estate, what will this year bring? I think many of you would agree the real estate market has not been following “tradition” in recent times.

What has happened in August?
Let’s look back and see what has happened in the past month. From our office figures we are starting to see more new listings coming on the market and average time has started to increase, however the total number of transacted sales have also increased. In fact, our team has more active listings currently but at the same time has transacted more sales than the previous months.

In simple terms we are seeing a shift in the market while still being a sellers market, things are starting to slow down. This is due to buyers taking slightly longer to make offers due to fear of paying too much but at the same time we are finding sellers’ expectations are creeping above buyers’ expectations. Basically, we are finding the final selling prices still at a peak or close to peak prices but some owners are still hoping to gain prices that are above where buyers are willing to pay, which is why things are taking a bit longer for both buyers and sellers to meet.

Risk of the current market to potential seller
If you are a potential seller in this market you will likely be able to secure an amazing price for your home, however the risk you face is that if your expectation is too high and you are trying to get above market value you could end up taking longer to sell for much less. What we have found from a vast majority of our recent sales is that owners with reasonable price expectations (based on recent sales of other similar properties) are not only securing a sale with multiple offers within 7-10 days but also getting a far better result than owners that are having to adjust their expectation over 2-4 weeks period before securing a sale.

The key to getting the best price in the current market is to ensure your home is presented as best as you can, have a proven market strategy and stick to the entire strategy and set your minimum price expectations prior to going on the market to avoid making emotional decisions. Also beware of the trap of agents out there overpricing your valuation with the purpose of getting you to commit to the market but don’t end up reaching your expectation.

I connected with a potential seller that was on the market last year with another agency and she told me the agent promised her the figure she wanted but ended up spending 8 weeks bringing lower offers for her to accept, she was so traumatised by the situation and is now afraid to go back on the market.

Who are the buyers in the market?
I wanted to clarify this myth as many sellers are coming to us asking if there are a lot of interstate or international buyers in the current market as this is what the media has been reporting. We are not seeing any more interstate buyers than we have in previous times and almost little or next to no international buyers. In fact, most of the successful buyers of all our recent sales are all secured by local homeowners.

Want to find out more about real estate as well as investing?
Come to our very first Pinnacle Property Expo we are holding on the 23rd of September from 1.30pm at Aspley Hornets football club function room.  Register here