Big March

As we approach the end of the financial year we are pleased to report one of our best ever sales months. We put this down to a lower interest rate environment and a period of time where the news around property locally and the economy of the world has been somewhat more hopeful.

Similarly we note some banks have increased their longer term rates, this is no doubt providing encouragement for buyers to act.

Renter's looking to buy

The latest drop of .5% in the OCR signals a bottoming out of interest rates. It appears to us buyers are positioning themselves to purchase as we observe a steady increase in the number of people at open homes, offers being made and sales made. The other interesting observation is that rental inquiries are down. There is no doubt renters are using a calculator to see what their rental money translates to as a mortgage.

Things are looking up

Open home numbers are up and steady, the number of offers we are fielding is on the increase, there is no sign of an increase in property values, but there are definite signs that buyers are on the look out and are prepared to commit.

We would expect this trend to continue particularly in light of another widely anticipated drop in the Official Cash Rate next week.

When's the right time to buy

The Herald headline on Thursday 26 February 2009 confirmed what we had been saying since Christmas.

Now is the time to buy a house if you have got a job and the money, ignore the crisis and start looking! We have experienced several sales recently where properties have been subject to multiple offers after the first weekend of open homes. In one situation the property received 65 inspections and 5 offers.

This week’s headlines should continue the changing of the tide in market sentiment as buyers make the most of what we see as a rare window of opportunity.