CityLife PROPERTY | Bye Bye 2019…Hello 2020!!
CityLife PROPERTY
Bye Bye 2019…Hello 2020!!
Nadine Edwards
Nadine Edwards BBus(Accy) LLB
Sales Director | Sales Consultant
M: 0423 602 606
P: (07) 4053 9910
E: nedwards@ljheh.com.au
W: 81-83 Woodward Street, Edge Hill QLD 4870
When you are a real estate salesperson it is quite common to be asked at any point of your day or at a social gathering, “What’s the property market doing?”
Given this is my first time to write in this publication I guess I will start with answering this question as I would when currently asked….and for those that know me know I love to converse and for those that don’t (grab a beverage) here it goes ….
2019 was a challenging year….pricing properties was difficult as we were in a soft market and given we only have historical prices to work off – what might have been an achievable sales price in previous months quickly changed to not being the case.
Essentially by the end of 2019 we found most properties in premier suburbs that had been purchased in 2016/2017 (that had not been extensively renovated in that period) were either just achieving or falling short of their previous sale price.
This type of market led to either auctioning properties or adopting pricing properties that loosened up the pricing structure. Both strategies worked well in 2019.
I guess that leads us to the next question – “How has 2020 commenced?” Sales are being achieved because the pricing level I believe has plateaued – so properties that have come onto the market in the last two months that have been priced realistically (with a slight optimistic angle) have successfully sold.
With these sales along with appropriate pricing or sales strategy, good presentation was critical. Buyers are still reacting favourably to “staged/styled” properties. The properties that have been depersonalised and decluttered – allows them to translate well from the internet through to a physical inspection. When a property is presented well – buyers not only click through the images online at a higher rate they are also more likely to visit the property.
I think with the advent of so many renovation television shows, most sellers I meet understand this concept now. How far we have come since we had to fight hard to convince owners of the importance of spending money on professional photography! Long gone (nearly) are the days of agents uploading their happy snappys from their own cameras of a property’s kitchen with a tenant standing at the counter eating their cereal!
I have watched the difference in buyers reactions to properties presented well and those that have not been and it is stark. Buyers appear to be immediately relaxed upon entering a well presented home, more inclined to engage in conversation and remain at the property for longer – all good for hopefully allowing the property to make their shortlist.
It will be interesting to see how the next quarter unfolds in our marketplace ….with speculation of more interest cuts in this quarter, the number of properties currently for sale has tightened, the rental vacancy rate being low, the impact of the Coronavirus on tourism – it would be nice to see demand and supply swap places and property prices go northwards ….this type of market is where the diligent salespeople will be across the listings and sales in their respective patches and watching for any indicators of positive or negative swings….they will be able to hopefully steer a seller to a successful sales result in a timely manner with minimal stress….
P.S Just hot off the press our agency, LJ Hooker Cairns Edge Hill has just been ranked by Real Estate Business (reb) as Number 37 sales office in Australia!!”
