Homeowners looking to sell have missed the window for getting the best price, study says
Australian homeowners looking to sell have missed the window for getting the best price, according to a new analysis by Domain.
Rising interest rates have tamped down buyer demand to below-average levels in recent months, but buyer interest was sliding well before that in most markets, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The best time for Sydney sellers to put their homes on the market was well over a year ago, as buyer demand for both houses and units peaked there in March 2021, according to Domain’s analysis. Demand is now at its lowest level in three years.
Demand for Melbourne units also peaked in March 2021. House demand peaked there in October, as did demand for both houses and units in Brisbane, the Herald reported.
Hobart saw the nation’s first peak in demand for houses in February 2021. Other markets peaked much later, such as Adelaide and Perth units, which peaked in February of this year.
Dr Nicola Powell, Domain chief of research and economics, told the Herald that the market had been cooling since last year, when demand peaked in October across the combined capital cities. Demand in regional areas peaked the same month for houses, and in January 2021 for units, she said.
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“Largely speaking, if you wanted to have the highest volume of buyers for your property, that would have been during a month of peak buyer demand,” Powell said.
The tumble in demand was first concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, but has since spread, Powell told the Herald. Demand was below the three-year average in most markets over the 30 days to Aug. 20.
Demand for houses in Melbourne is now 14.5% down compared to a typical August. Demand is down 11% in Sydney and 17.8% in Brisbane. It tumbled more than 20% in Canberra and Perth, the Herald reported.
Powell told the publication that demand has fallen as the higher cost of debt and inflation pressures impacted borrowers’ buying capacity. An increased supply of homes has also reduced competition, she said.
