If you are in the process of deciding to put your home on the market, you will no doubt be wondering what rising interest rates and inflation mean for your home sale. Here are some common questions we are hearing right now. Please get in touch if you have more.

Can I sell my house now for a good price? 

Yes. Homes continue to go on the market, and it is important to keep in mind that if you are buying and selling simultaneously in comparable market conditions, the state of the market is almost irrelevant. It is also important to remember that unless you bought in the last 12 to 18 months, your property will still be significantly more valuable than when you purchased it. 

Tougher times also weed out the agents who don’t have the negotiation skills to achieve the price that’s right for both seller and buyer. So as long as you are selecting an experienced real estate agent who has navigated full property cycles, you should still be able to achieve the best price in the market for your property.

Is now a good time to prepare my home for sale? 

Absolutely. Getting your home ready for sale can be a surprisingly lengthy process, from decluttering and donating to cleaning, repainting and carrying out minor renovations. Even if you aren’t quite ready to sell yet, the earlier you start, the easier it will be for you when the time comes. 

Make a list of what work needs to be done and if you can do it yourself or if you’ll need to have it done professionally. Start going through your belongings and sort out what you want to keep and what you will get rid of. Once you have decided to sell, you can put your plan into place. 

By preparing thoroughly for your home sale, you can look forward to a smoother, less stressful selling period and ultimately a better result.

Should I style my home?

Most people these days start their property searches online so firstly your home needs to stand out in the online listing and great pictures are a key element of this. The better your property looks in the photographs the more chance that a buyer will make an emotional connection with it and come along to an inspection. Styling your property either yourself or having a professional do it can make a huge difference to how it presents itself. 

By strategically selecting the items in your home and where they are placed, you can show your home’s personality and have it seen in the best possible light. Careful curation will make your home feel more spacious and illustrate to the buyers what their life could feel like if they lived there. With styling and professional real estate photography, you can add thousands to the value of your home. 

How do buyers inspect a property? 

Buyers will initially inspect your property in the online listings. It’s for this reason that we need excellent photography that highlights the home’s best features. A proper floor plan with all measurements included is also useful as this enables buyers to do a mental walk-through. And if we believe it will help a sale, we may suggest that you also do a walk-through video or virtual tour. After reviewing these online, a buyer will ascertain whether or not they think your property is worth inspecting in person.

If a buyer does decide from the online listing that your home may suit them, they will come along to an open house or book a private inspection to view it. Here they usually walk through each room looking for the attributes that are important to them and ask any questions they may have about it. After attending an inspection, they may go back to the online listing to review the photos, floorplan and video in more detail.

Are people still buying homes? 

Yes. People will always need to put their homes on the market and with interest rates still historically low (although not as low as they were for so many years), it’s a great time to buy. 

There are many reasons why people need to move homes. These include separation, divorce, and being closer to family or for work reasons. Some might be looking for a sea or tree change, be downsizing to save money or be moving for work or study. So, as you can see, there remain plenty of reasons why people continue to buy and sell property. 

Listings are now increasing after a short-term dip while sellers wait to see how the market will pan out. While more listings mean your property faces more competition, we can help your property stand out from the rest with strategic marketing.

Can I rent my property? How do you find tenants? 

Yes. We can list your property for rent and start taking calls and managing viewings much in the same way as we described selling a home above. We have a database of pre-screened tenants, and when we show your home, it’s generally one-on-one with a property manager. 

Can we help with your property for sale or lease?

Please feel free to call us with any questions. We’re here to help.

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Australia-wide, property prices grew by 8.1%, with gains in most capital cities. The highest rises were in Sydney (11.1 per cent), Perth (15.2 per cent), and Brisbane (13.1 per cent), with Brisbane starting to feel the effects of winning the right to host the 2032 Olympic Games. Hobart and Darwin both saw modest falls. Hobart prices continued to decline over the year, while Darwin ended the year with gains of 3.7%.

Across regional markets, values rose 4.4%.

12 months of real estate in review 

Encouragingly, despite pressures on cost, Australia-wide, dwelling values are 31.3% above where they were before the pandemic. Prices are still the highest they’ve been for decades in most cities and regions in Australia. According to CoreLogic figures for the week ending 11 February, auction clearance rates were up in all capital cities, with a weighted average clearance rate of 68.3%. 

This time last year, we assumed Australians would move on from the slump in 2022 by the end of 2023. As it happened, we saw continual growth throughout the year.

Consumer sentiment

As of 23 February, the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index was at 83.2 points, below the 1973-2024 average of 110.7. In general, buyers and sellers are optimistic; however, the war in Ukraine, the devastation in the Middle East, the US election in November, and the continued spectre of a recession combine to create uncertainty. 

While the US economy is strong, Germany, Finland, the UK and Ireland are in technical recession (two consecutive quarters of negative growth), while France showed little growth over the second half of 2023.

The Australian economy has slowed almost to a stop. However, our population growth – primarily through immigration – has helped us narrowly avoid a technical recession. February saw a marked growth in property values, while current interest-rate stability is inspiring confidence in buyers and sellers alike.

HOMEOWNER UPDATE

The economy in 2024

Heading into 2024, we’re facing a sluggish economy, rising unemployment, lower exports and a drop in imported consumer goods as Australians reined in their shopping. 

We know from experience that Australian mortgage holders will sacrifice much to retain their property so a slow-down in consumer spending was only to be expected.

Property auctions and clearance rates 2023

CoreLogic’s 2023 Auction Market Review released in February this year showed 96,177 homes went under the hammer across the combined capitals last year. This represented an -8.0% drop on 2022 and the lowest number of auctions annually in three years. However, the 2023 clearance rate was 64.9%, up from 61.2% in 2022.

For the week ending 4 February 2024, CoreLogic noted 1,671 auctions last week, the second-busiest start to the auction season on record with clearance rates of Sydney ‒ 70.6%; Melbourne ‒ 67.1%, Brisbane ‒ 67.2%, Adelaide ‒ 74.1% and Canberra ‒ 58.6%. Properties that went to auction in Perth and Tasmania (all) were passed in.

Property market movements in 2024

While spring is often noted as a peak selling season, figures bear out that autumn is the season that delivers the best sales results. So look for a bump in average sale prices from March onwards and a further bump in September/October as the weather warms up again and days grow longer.

PROPERTY INVESTOR UPDATE

Rental listings in 2024

According to Eliza Owen, Head of Research at CoreLogic, rent values rose steadily to July last year at which point values began to ease in capital cities. Slowing in regional centres has been evident since April last year. Note ‘slowing’; the market isn’t going backwards, just not rising exponentially as it had been doing.

Owen suggests that slowing growth will be a key housing market trend for 2024 and offers three reasons.

1. The cash rate is expected to fall, which could increase investment and first home buyer activity. Rents move with interest rates, and interest rates could be on the way down either this year or next. Rent values and interest rates tend to move in tandem.
2. Income growth is expected to slow, which might prompt a change in housing preferences. 
3. Stretched rental affordability could see movements to more affordable areas.

However, although the three scenarios above might come into play, we need to factor in:

• Slower building activity.
• Increased population (although the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show temporary higher education visa holders accounted for 33.9% of overseas migration in the 2022-2023 financial year).
• Properties off the long-term rental market again as landlords who took their properties off the short-term rental market over the pandemic years are now switching back. In some areas of high demand, this is up to 20% of housing stock.
• The release of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures that give indications of a downturn for first home buyers in January 2024, as the number of owner-occupier first home buyer loans decreased by 6.9%. 
• Forthcoming tax cuts that will put more money in renters’ pockets.

Can we help you with your property needs?

If you’d like advice about the property market, whether you want to sell, buy or lease, we know our area and understand the market. Please get in touch. We’re here to help.  

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Here are 5 easy ways to add value to your home

• Gardening – nothing fancy, just keep it tidy. Lawns mowed, paths edged, gardens weeded
• Lights – Your property should be well lit. Replace any broken globes and replace with LED lighting where possible
• Declutter – Show off how much space your home has by removing any unnecessary clutter
• Cleaning – Keep your home sparkling, especially bathrooms and kitchens
• Maintenance – Look for anything that might need to be fixed. Start listing them down and call a handyman/tradesperson in when the list is ready

Some bonus advanced tips

• Start planting flowers in the gardens or speak with your local gardener
• If you have a creative flair, visit stores to add some finishing homely touches – eg. Adairs or Kmart – or speak to a stylist
• High pressure clean the concrete around the home. You may want to use a professional if it’s a large job or you’re working on stencilled concrete

If you need to speak with someone about getting ready to sell your home, or need some help with the tips above, fill in the form below or contact us on 0738628666 to speak with someone ASAP.

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Maria and Viv talk about how an out of state investor maximised their rent return for a property they just bought.

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Maria talks about some of the things we do to find great tenants.

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Our Rentals Operations Manager Maria Schmelzer sits down with one of our business owners & sales agents Johnny Lin to discuss maximising the sales price on your investment property! 💸

• When you can or can’t take marketing photos inside your property
• Selling your property vacant
• Painting and staging with furniture to maximise your sale price
• Paying your marketing at settlement

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Of course, check with your accountant or financial advisor to see how this applies to your individual situation:

• Depending on your water usage arrangement with your tenants, consider getting your property water efficient. One of our Petrie landlords recently spent $120 to have his property certified including a minor adjustment to his laundry taps, and is now able to recoup an additional $200/year water usage from the tenant. On top of the savings, a water efficient property saves water and is good for the environment!

• If you don’t have a tax depreciation schedule, get one now! An Aspley investor for example saved $5,613 in their 1st year of their investment, and they will continue to save more in the coming years. A reliable quantity surveyor we use is Real Property Matters (www.realpropertymatters.com.au) who will not charge if they cannot find significant tax deductions for you, or BMT quantity surveyors will do a complimentary estimate of potential deductions based on photos upon request.

• Consider installing solar panels. You may consider installing solar on condition of your tenants agreeing to a small rent increase. It’s a win/win scenario. Claim an asset write off and at a price increase of $10-15/week, it can be paid off over a number of years, be your asset and future tenants will continue to pay more for a property where they save considerable $ on electricity bills. Plus, it’s good for the planet. Solar Asset Management (solarassetmanagement.com.au) provides free quotes for solar installations, upgrades and other energy related matters.

• Refinance your home loan. Some people are paying comparison rates under 3% on interest only, with Principal and Interest Fixed Rates as low as 2.29%. If you can save 1% on a $300,000 loan, that’s $3,000 extra in your pocket every year. Contact your mortgage broker or negotiate with your bank direct to see if this applies to you. A reliable mortgage broker we use is Thuy Hook contact thuy.hook@ezfinancing.com.au or 0449150117

• If you are planning on general repairs, consider bringing them forward to this tax year. For example, if you are spending $200 to replace a faulty fan soon after 1st July, you could bring this forward and claim the repairs as a tax deduction now and save e.g. $66 in your FY20 tax return, rather than in your FY21 return 12 months later

Our team is focussed on making the investing and renting experience simpler for everyone, so if we can help, just reach out and let us know.

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• Presentation
• Having the tenant on your side
• Knowing the legislation so the tenants can’t up and leave by giving 2 weeks notice

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