Queens Birthday weekend!

What a fabulous spell of weather. Hopefully it will last through the long weekend. Last week we wondered if things were getting better, this week we are fielding a decided increase in buyer inquiry, resulting in a steady number of offers and sales; phew! We have witnessed in fact, good competition in some cases for quality homes, open home numbers are steady – the world is not ending after all. Could be a great time to buy.

Change in sentiment?

It’s our impression that while the news of the market being at its lowest ebb in years may be correct, there appears to be a slight change in sentiment. With several banks dropping interest rates, indications seem to be rates easing or at worst staying the same. Buyers are increasingly taking this on board while assessing a market place where values are looking as though they may have stabilized. Putting two and two together is having many say this could be as good as it gets and making an offer. Certainly for us activity and sales are up.

Call me an optimist

Do you sense a change? Call me an optimist, but there appears less negativity, buyers are about, offers are being made and sales concluded. Certainly volume is down, but we’re wondering if that’s because buyers have held hands in the hope values will fall significantly. That doesn’t appear likely. Hey, it’s Mothers Day Sunday – don’t forget!

Future vision

Real Estate continues to be the favourite sport for those who believe they can see into the future. It’s amazing how different peoples visions can be.

While it’s true sales volume is down, we continue to field strong buyer inquiry for the properties we are marketing. Negotiations are taking longer to complete but with patience, we are getting there more often than not. Genuine buyers and genuine sellers will continue to reach a meeting of the minds.

The cautious approach

There is no question that buyers are taking a cautious approach. Auctions are interesting, by and large buyers have decided to stand back and not bid – once the auctioneer has declared the property as having not met reserve,one of two scenarios play out, either:

a) Buyers then bid aggressively for the first right to negotiate or
b) The property is passed in without a bid at which time multiple offers are received.

The interesting thing is that in this situation, buyers complain of not wanting to be in a ‘Dutch auction’ – go figure! Either way, the Auction process we are using is proving a very efficient way of finding the best price available to the vendor, as a consequence, we are seeing satisfying results for our vendors.