Posted by admin on 7 November 2011
Home buyers often run in fear that a real estate agent might “make” them pay too much. When all your friends are telling you there’s amazing discounts everywhere it can be daunting making an offer on a place. What if you pay too much? Successful bargain-hunting earns you the ultimate social status in 2011, like a victorious marauder returned with the spoils of war. But what if you liked it so much you paid full price, or bought as the only bidder at the auction? The social shock and horror….
So it’s no surprise we’re seeing more and more fact-searching before buyers submit an offer. Online resources have expanded remarkably over recent years and one site’s now released “Guesstimates”, providing an instant “value” of any house in Australia. Even they call it a “guess” and it follows a model similar to an American tool called a Zestimate. We first wrote about them almost 5 years ago and they’ve since caused plenty of confusion in the Land of the Free (data). Guesstimates do use some science to come up with a price range. But it’s pretty rough – in both directions. One home we sold recently (so it’s not yet recorded in official data) sold for 20% or $100,000 less than the website tells us it’s worth. Must be a lousy agent! Inner-city buyers won’t get much from the tool because apartments don’t seem to appear in their data and nor do houses on community title.
And a tip for apartment buyers relying on online sales data: watch out for lot numbers versus apartment numbers. They’re often different and the official stats report lot numbers only. Announcing the Guesstimate launch their product manager said “To meaningfully price a property for sale, more in-depth information and local knowledge is required – this is where real estate agents and professionals, as local experts, have skill sets that are invaluable.”
So consider this: would a good agent spend their Saturday afternoons standing out the front of a home that’s 20% over the market? Home buyers do need to do their homework and be comfortable with their offered price. But as a wise person once told us, “Don’t let someone else buy the home for a price you were prepared to pay”.
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Tags: Brisbane apartment prices, Brisbane home buyers, Brisbane house prices, Brisbane real estate agents, Brisbane real estate statistics, Guesstimates, Zestimates
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 29 December 2010
We often hear stats on the number of home sales and for a couple of years now the volumes have been low. The other way of looking at this is to consider that Brisbane property owners are hanging onto their homes, and investments, for longer. Analysts RP Data have just confirmed this.
Brisbane houses are now owned for an average of 7.9 years, up from 6.3 years from 2005. The report looked at properties actually sold in the year to August, so like all stats you need to consider how the sample’s created. Lots of owners are hanging in there and not selling at all – so the averages will probably get longer.
So over 5 years we’ve had a rise in holding time of 25% and you have to wonder whether all those property owners are happy staying put. The reasons we all move – downsizing, upsizing, the consistent “hatches, matches and dispatches” of life – are all pressures to change home. Maybe we’re all waiting for that next boom…
Fortunately for us hungry real estate agents (minimal sympathy expected!) unit owners are a bit more regular at selling, with an average tenure of 6.2 years. That too is up from 5.2 in 2005.
So amongst all the tea-reading, tarot-carding and crystal-ball-gazing of analysts, economists and suburban real estate agents, we’ll make one prediction for the new year. In 2011 Brisbane home owners will move more often. Not much but a bit more, as job security and (relatively) low interest rates support the desire for that fresh place. Achieving a higher price than the neighbour will become less of an obsession and the volume of sales will sneak up.
And if this proves to just be wishful thinking and we’re wrong then a move to Darwin’s looking good. Their home owners sell up every 4.8 years!
Tags: Brisbane real estate agents, Brisbane real estate statistics, RP Data, selling a house Brisbane, selling an apartment Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 14 April 2010
The latest rental stats have been released and they help explain the large number of rentals currently available. Here’s our Research team’s media release:
Brisbane’s rental market has had a massive boost, with over 1100 homes added to the rental pool in the first quarter of 2010. According to new Residential Tenancies Authority stats the past year’s decline in the number of rented homes has finally stopped.
Bees Nees Research Managing Director, Rob Honeycombe says investors have replaced first home buyers and are offering Brisbane’s tenants more choice.
“Investors have been sitting on the sidelines and during 2009 the rental pool just continued to shrink. There’s now a lot more confidence in bricks and mortar and the RTA stats show property investors have started to dive in,” Mr Honeycombe said.
The RTA track all rental bonds and across Brisbane the total leapt by 1145 in the March quarter. Mr Honeycombe said this data followed this week’s ABS finance stats which showed investors’ share of lending is growing strongly.
“The inner city has been the standout, with 693 extra rental homes added since the start of 2010. That’s more growth in a quarter than we’ve seen since 2006.”
Mr Honeycombe said rents had mostly showed small gains, with Brisbane’s median 2 bedroom apartment rent now at $365 per week.
To get the latest median rent for your suburb visit www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au
Tags: Brisbane housing supply, Brisbane real estate statistics, Brisbane rents, median rents Brisbane, rental supply Brisbane, Residential Tenancies Authority, tenant marketing Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane landlords, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 14 August 2009
Have you been in your home for more than 7 years? Chances are you haven’t.
Interesting stats out today from property researchers RP Data, charting the average time we own a piece of real estate. Tracking all sales in the year to May their team recorded the average time since the property was bought by that owner. For Queensland apartment owners it was just 5.7 years, our house owners 6.8 years.
As real estate agents we want to compliment all those people who chose to sell!
Our livelihoods aside it’s interesting how short the average tenure really is. We remember hearing stats out of the USA many moons ago that 7 years was their average holding time and we couldn’t imagine Australians would get to that point.
Interestingly the longest stays seem to be in more affordable suburbs. Maybe first home buyers get their piece of Australia and hold on tight. Investors are also more active in these areas and may have longer term plans than owner-residents.
Overall property owners are much happier to move once our dwellings no longer fit our needs, something unheard of a generation or two ago. Whatever the reason Queenslanders sell so regularly we thank you, and encourage you to do it more often!
Tags: affordable suburbs Brisbane, Brisbane real estate statistics, first home owners, RP Data
Posted in trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Home buyers often run in fear that a real estate agent might “make” them pay too much. When all your friends are telling you there’s amazing discounts everywhere it can be daunting making an offer on a place. What if you pay too much? Successful bargain-hunting earns you the ultimate social status in 2011, like a victorious marauder returned with the spoils of war. But what if you liked it so much you paid full price, or bought as the only bidder at the auction? The social shock and horror….
