If you’ve been wondering where all the new listings have been lately… so have the buyers.
The past five or six weeks have been about as quiet as winter usually gets in Stonnington. Plenty of buyers have been refreshing REA and Domain like they’re trying to buy Taylor Swift tickets, only to discover there wasn’t much to look at.
Then Saturday arrived.
It was the first real weekend of fresh campaigns, and the crowds came back quickly.
A few examples from our opens:
• 13 Hume Street, Armadale – 40+ groups
• 20 Caroline Street South, South Yarra – 30+ groups
• 1/42 Elizabeth Street, Malvern – 40+ groups
• 5 Hughes Street, Malvern East – 30+ groups
Now, that’s only four homes, and all of them are quality properties, so I’m not suggesting we’ve suddenly entered another boom.
But the reason for the crowds is actually pretty simple.
Twice a year, buyer demand quietly builds while new listings dry up. Once over Christmas. Once through the middle of winter.
The buyers don’t disappear. They wait.
Then the first wave of good homes comes online and everyone turns up at once.
It’s simple supply and demand.
For weeks, the buyer pool has been getting deeper while the number of new listings has stayed incredibly low. The result? More buyers inspecting each property.
Will all of those people buy? Of course not.
Some are actively searching. Others are testing the market. And let’s be honest, Australians love a sticky beak through a nice house.
But here’s what Saturday confirmed.
There are plenty of buyers out there.
The challenge isn’t finding them. It’s giving them a property that represents enough value for them to make a move.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve always believed the two best times of year to sell are February (campaign starting straight after Australia Day) and August (campaign starting straight after the winter school holidays).
Buyer demand is usually at its highest, while the number of competing listings is still relatively low.
By September and October, the choice for buyers expands considerably. Great homes still sell well, but they’re competing with a much larger field.
Markets change. Interest rates change. Headlines change.
Seasonal supply and demand don’t.
Feature Property: 20 Caroline Street South, South Yarra
David Sciola 