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Sellers to sharpen auction strategy in softer conditions
As a softer market and increased buyer caution reshape property conditions, sellers need to work alongside agents on pricing, timing, and sales strategy to secure successful outcomes.
As the market continues to shift following three rate cuts and investors’ tax reforms, buyers hit by affordability pressures have become more selective with their purchases, meaning sellers should shift strategy.
While auctions have softened, McGrath chief auctioneer Green-Kennedy said that they were still the best-selling method as opposed to private treaties, given the urgency they created and the difference in the average days on market.
He said that, in the current market, it was easier to gain buyers’ interest when there was a time limit, as opposed to simply “putting a board up and hoping for the best”.
Despite fewer properties going under the hammer, Cotality’s latest Property Market Indicator Summary showed that 54 per cent of capital city auctions recorded a positive outcome, based on early results on Monday.
“Draw a line in the sand and have an end date so that you can work with buyers in the market at the moment wanting to transact,” Green-Kennedy said.
According to Green-Kennedy, buyers were being more cautious in their purchase decisions, noting it was currently a buyer’s market.
He also said that the market was also entering a “lower stock level time of year”, making buyers more price-sensitive in many areas.
“There are buyers in the marketplace today, but they are under no pressure to transact at speed,” he said.
“If the motivation is right, they will transact.”
To attract purchasers, Green-Kennedy said that it was pivotal for sellers to work with their agents around the selling price to navigate different market conditions.
He said that if priced too high, properties won’t attract buyers and ultimately increase their numbers of days on the market, which could be detrimental to the final sale point.
He said that it was essential to help buyers see value in a property, saying that they won’t act unless they believe the home is worth their time and money.
“If they don’t see value instantly they walk to the next property,” he said.
Additionally, he said that vendors and agents should collaborate to ensure they list the property at the right period.
“Every single market has a different reason why people bring property to sale, in good times and in bad, in upsizing and downsizing in divorce or extended family,” he said.
“If you want to listen to where the market feedback is and your agent, and buyer expectations, you should have probably a bit more confidence around your ability to secure the right sale at this point in time.”
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