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Belinda Luc
With the festive season just around the corner, agents are divided over whether there will be an increase in property listings before the year is out.
According to the Real Estate Business latest straw poll, 50.9 per cent of the 426 estate agents polled expect to see an upswing in property listings, while 49.1 per cent are unconvinced.
McGrath Estate Agents chief executive John McGrath said the industry is already enjoying a steady increase in listings.
"The spring listings rush was delayed this year due to the extended federal election process but we have now seen a significant increase in pre-christmas listings amounting to 50 per cent or more than this time last year,” Mr McGrath told Real Estate Business.
“I don’t expect the volume of listings to increase dramatically between now and Christmas but I suspect we will see a strong start to the New Year with good listing volume in February."
According to Harcourts Australasia head of real estate operations Bryan Thomson, Christmas poses a pivotal time in the real estate market, depending on where properties are situated.
"Christmas is the heart of the selling season but is depends on where the property is based," Mr Thomson told Real Estate Business.
"For holiday properties, sellers often wait until the Christmas holiday period to list, as they attract more out-of-town buyer interest. However, in locations where everyone goes away on holidays over Christmas, sellers typically wait until peple return from their holidays before listing their proerty for sale," he said.
Ray White Redcliffe principal Adam Boland has experienced an upswing in pre-Christmas property listings, but he attributes this namely to "hard work in attracting business moreso than market conditions." He said however, the agency has achieved a 90 per cent clearance rate on properties sold over the course of the marketing period (ie: including under the hammer, per-auction and post-auction sales).
Mr Boland said the period leading up to Christmas has been a good time for people to list their properties for sale, for a number of reasons.
"Firstly, people want to make big decisions before Christmas so they have a fresh start in the New Year," Mr Boland told Real Estate Business.
"Secondly, some sellers are concerned that the new national consumer credit legislation may make it more difficult to borrow money in the new year, so they want to make their buying decisions as soon as possible," he said.
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