Weekly Real Estate Market Update with Leigh Martinuzzi MPG
Dwelling prices continue to climb across our capital cities with early indications suggesting in January so far, we’ve seen prices climb a further 0.8%. This is certainly a slower pass of growth from what we experienced last year. However, Brisbane and Adelaide continue to lead the way with a further 0.5% and 0.6% increase last week. The favourable selling conditions are encouraging many homeowners to get to the market before things may ease with a reported 20.6% increase in property availability in the past four weeks compared to the same time last year.
Locally we have seen several new listings come to the market and some are suggesting this is a sign for a soon to be stabilising or even declining market. In my opinion, I can’t see the market slowing just yet. On the ground level, we have many active and ready-to-go buyers looking for property in all categories. While there are some properties to show them it’s not enough to satisfy them all. The number of people searching for property on realestate.com.au has fallen throughout January however this is to be expected as many people are still in holiday mode and not a buying/selling mode. I’d expect once school resumes and people get back into action we will see an increase in new listings and buyer activity to match.
One reason why I am confident that we will see a strong market for the first quarter of 2022 is that many people are still making the move to our beautiful coastal city while many residents are choosing not to go anywhere. This will mean high buyer numbers with a continuing low level of property availability. The other attraction is relative affordability. The chart below highlights median house prices across our capital cities. While Brisbane is quickly catching up to the likes of Melbourne, Brisbane prices are still $150,000 more affordable. And coastal areas like the Sunshine Coast that offer an abundance of favourable lifestyle options still offer much greater value than the likes of coastal areas in NSW and Victoria.
Although the market may not be as active and as HOT as last year, for those homeowners looking to sell for a premium now is still a very good time. For homeowners, I think it’s important to not get overexcited about the potential sale price or greedy. It is hard to know what you might achieve in this market however one thing is for certain, if you do decide to sell and choose the right agent and sales process, you will get a premium price and be able to sell in a quick timeframe. The market has never been so favourable for sellers. If you raise your expectations too high you might find your time on the market extended and the end sale result less favourable than you could have otherwise achieved in the first couple of weeks of the sales campaign.
Auction News!
In the final quarter of 2021, Australia saw a surge in Auction listings across the country with our capital cities seeing 42,918 properties choosing to sell by auction. According to the data provided by CoreLogic, this was an 85.1% increase in auction numbers in quarter 3 and a 109.5% increase on the previous year. This increase can be attributed to favourable seller conditions promoting many homeowners to cash in and take advantage of the increased buyer competition available. Other factors include a seasonal increase in property sales post-winter and also and lifting of lockdowns and other COVID restrictions towards the later part of 2021. The chart provided by CoreLogic below highlights auction figures in the final quarter of 2021.
So far in January, auction numbers remain positive with early figures suggesting the number of homes going to auction is 40% higher than this time last year. Seasonally January is not a huge selling market however CoreLogic reported 460 properties were taken to auction in the week leading up to the 23rd o January 2022. You can see the number of properties state by state taken to auction last week are considerably lower than most other months in the year however this is a slight increase from the previous week. We will expect these numbers to spike in the next few weeks along with those properties listing for sale by private treaty as the real estate markets kick back into gear. So far this week there are 1150 properties expected to be taken to auction.
AUCTION RESULTS STATE BY STATE (PRELIMINARY). WEEK ENDING 23rd of JANUARY.
- Queensland – =76% (96/1264)
- NSW – 88% (80/1275)
- Victoria – 79% (87/1077)
- ACT – 82% (17/56)
- South Australia – 81% (32/358)
- Tasmania – NA (1/204)
- Western Australia – 25% (4/691)
- Northern Territory – NA (0/22)
*(Auctions/Private Sales)
Review of the Week
Professional, Friendly and Knowledgeable
I highly recommend Leigh to anyone buying a house. Leigh was so helpful to me and my wife as we bought our first house. From the start, he was very friendly, open and always professional. He answered every one of my questions and was very prompt will all his replies. Leigh was highly knowledgeable about Palmwoods as well which was a great attribute. If I could leave more than 5 stars I would! – Palmwoods Buyer
Very easy to talk to and kept us informed
Leigh was very professional and knew the housing market in our area. He did a great presentation of our home and sold it within a week.– Palmwoods Seller
