Realistic price expectations needed to seal a property deal in Canberra

Canberra vendors should be prepared to set realistic price expectations to secure a sale before the festive slowdown, a leading real estate agent has cautioned.

Windrose Property Principal and Licensed Agent Sam McGregor said spring had heralded high stock levels and plenty of choice, but the available listings were well above the number of active buyers in the market.

He said vendors seeking a transaction before Christmas needed to seriously consider price sensitivities and work reasonably with buyers to get deals done.

“There’s a good pool of high-quality buyers in the market at the moment but most are price sensitive – they don’t want to overspend – and the vendors that are willing to meet the market are the ones who are getting their properties sold,” Sam said.

“At the moment, the higher stock levels mean that some houses are selling really quickly because they are presented beautifully, marketed well and priced perfectly and the buyers have been in the market between three and six months so they are ready to act quickly.

“The other end of the spectrum is houses that are just sitting there because the vendors want their price and they’re happy to dig in and chase their price – and they’ll wait for the market to come back whatever that looks like.

“Then there’s the middle pool where most houses out there are saleable at the moment but vendors probably need to budge by what they expect by 1% or 2%.”

The insight comes as the CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index, released on Friday, shows property prices in Canberra dropped by 0.3% in October, the latest in a series of dips in recent months.

Canberra was one of four capitals to register declines in October, alongside Darwin which sustained a decrease of 1%, Melbourne with a 0.2% drop and Sydney by 0.1%. Yet, the national capital remains the third most expensive market in Australia – behind Sydney and Brisbane – with a median price of $850,223.

According to SQM Research, the number of listings in Canberra grew from 4305 in September to 4666 in October. The number of listings is significantly higher than the same time last year when 3912 properties were on the market.

Sam said the run to Christmas would be a busy period for motivated sellers and buyers looking to capitalise on current market conditions.

“It’s going to be a busy time between now and the end of the year. Some will be because of new listings but also because there is such a high volume of stock right now so those houses will be selling,” Sam said.

“If I was giving a warning to vendors out there at the moment, it’s probably that a deal that might feel like it’s $15,000 or $20,000 short today is going to look like an amazing deal in January. So, it’s very important that vendors work with the market as it is.”

CoreLogic Research Director Tim Lawless said the stronger performance across the more affordable end of the market was a consistent theme across most Australian capitals.

“A combination of less borrowing capacity and broader affordability challenges, as well as a higher-than-average share of investors and first home buyers in the market is the most likely explanation for stronger conditions across the lower value cohorts of the market,” Tim said.

“The past three months has seen the lowest quartile either record a higher growth rate or smaller decline relative to the upper quartile or broad middle of the market across every capital city except Canberra.”

He said affordability challenges would likely persist across most sectors of the Australian housing market, with soft economic activity and households largely having to draw down on their savings buffers accrued during the pandemic.