Buyers in hot seat: ’Sellers need to be more realistic’

PropTrack’s latest listings report reveals new listings have now risen for six straight months in the Queensland capital, providing more choice for home hunters.

The report found new listings rose 5.1% last month, marking the highest volume of new listings for a September in Brisbane since 2018. They also rose 5% in September in regional Queensland.

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said annually, total listings in Brisbane were still lower compared to a year ago, but the rise in new listings was encouraging.

“The increase in new listings is important because when you start looking, you try and buy something and if you don’t, you’re then hanging out for those new listings,” Mr Kusher said.

“There’s a level of confidence from people who own properties to put them on the market at the moment and that’s taking some of the urgency out of the market for buyers.

PropTrack director of economic research Camerson Kusher says sellers are going to have to rethink pricing. Picture: realestate.com.au

“When there’s more stock and more stock coming, there’s a bit more of a sense of ‘if I miss out on this, it’s not the end of the world’, so for people trying to buy a property, it’s really positive. For sellers, it means they have to be more realistic about prices.”

Brisbane’s western suburbs recorded the biggest year-on-year increase in new listings — 36.5% higher than the previous year, followed by Brisbane’s southern suburbs.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the more properties for sale usually suggested price growth would moderate, but so far Brisbane was defying that trend.

“During the pandemic, we saw a big jump in properties for sale. Sellers were motivated by strong market conditions and we didn’t see a slow down in pricing until interest rates started to rise,” Ms Conisbee said.

This five-bedroom Brisbane house at 47 Bundah Street in Camp Hill has just been listed for auction. Picture: realestate.com.au

“Conversely, a lot of properties are coming to market at the moment. Melbourne and Sydney are seeing price moderation as a result, however this is being driven by higher taxes and high interest rates. Interestingly, more properties are coming up for sale in Brisbane and Perth and a similar slowdown is not occuring.”

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said high vendor price expectations was still getting in the way of properties not selling, but those who “listened to the market were handsomely rewarded”.

Mr Croft said he saw “real aggressive, high energy bidding across multiple auctions” at the weekend.

“The market’s responding really well and has come out of the school holiday hiatus,” he said.

This article first appeared on realestate.com.au and was republished with permission.