Sitting on the fence?

How’s The Market | Edition 14

The results are in, and our assumptions that the market was on the mend were correct. Over the weekend we saw multiple auctions selling under the hammer, which means they didn’t pass in and it sold with the auctioneer calling “selling, selling, SOLD.”

To me this shows a level of confidence returning to the market with buyers who are ahead of the pack, starting to throw their hat in the ring and participate at auctions. There are still a number of people sitting on the fence and you can feel this at auctions.?

On Saturday I was at an auction with 100 plus people in the crowd and 17 registered bidders, you could honestly sense the tension in the air, by how many people wanted the property.?

In the end only 4 bidders participated, 2 were gone very early on, while the buyer and the underbidder went at it for sometime. With 17 registered bidders, about half are opportunistic, thinking they might have a chance just by turning up, so if you drop that number to 8 serious bidders, that seems like a pretty healthy market to me, but also shows a fair amount of buyers still unsure.?

We have also seen vendors accepting offers sooner in campaigns and just wanting properties sold before another rate increase, which is probably going to happen next Tuesday.?

This is where the opportunity lies, because right at this moment, vendors want properties sold and there are still a large number of buyers who are unsure and sitting on the fence.?

This is your time to be sure.

If you want confirmation on how properties have tracked over time, have a look at the graph below.

The lines on the graph are by no means straight, but anyone who has bought a property at any point on the graph, and held it for 15 years would have benefitted from owning that property.?

Now I’m certainly not saying just to go and buy anything, as you need to complete the research and due diligence to ensure its the right property and you aren’t over paying, but once you find that right property, now is the time to GO!

This week's Pro tip: Speak to your broker. Get your ducks in a row and take ACTION!

What the agents are saying

Confidence is gaining and buyers are coming back in droves.?

This week we have seen an A grade property overlooking a park with 10 buyers in the mix at $1.6m - $1.7m and an offer $200k over the range 2 weeks into the campaign.?

Some agents are telling us that all listings are set up for an auction date of Sep 17 with little more in the pipeline afterwards, but as most agents work week to week this will change very quickly especially with the buyers now starting to return.?

It only takes a few good sales for both buyers and sellers to regain confidence, and we are off to the races.?

In the media

This was an almost, “Not in the media, but should be” week with an unsurprising amount of coverage on the fact that some banks including NAB actually reduced their variable rates this week.

Fixed rates went down a few weeks ago but now some of the major banks like NAB have reduced variable interest rates by up to .30% off the back of consistent raises from the reserve bank.?

Why would they do this? Because it's not all doom and gloom out there, they know way more than we do and this gives me confidence that rates are not far off stabilising.?

Yes they are trying to attract new customers who might be coming off fixed rates, but this is a good sign for buyers as we get closer to the main selling season of the year.?

Final Thoughts

Short and sweet this week, if you are buying any sort of property, a family home, an investment, or even your first property, have confidence that the market has bottomed out and we start to see a lot more activity from buyers in the coming weeks.?

If you made it this far, thank you and if you have any suggestions on what you would like covered in the future please email me at [email protected]

Happy Buying!?

Note: This is my opinion, please seek your own expert advice when making decisions