Your Questions Answered
There has been plenty of talk in the media about how the market has slowed and how property prices have dropped, but what isn’t being reported are all of the successful sales that have been made over the past 2-3 months. We have had several really busy auctions where we have had multiple bidders and the property has sold under the hammer, and over the reserve. There is also plenty of talk about how auctions don’t work in the current climate, but the statistics say otherwise. We are part of Ray White City Realty Group. The group has held 337 auctions from January of this year to the 30th June. Of these, 9 sold prior to auction, 120 sold under the hammer, and 68 sold post-auction. That is a total clearance rate of 58.16%. Compare that to the clearance rate for sales by any other means (including set-date-of-sale):
17.1% .... Auctions still work!
If you are thinking of upsizing but think you will wait until the market improves, you may want to think again. You are likely to be better off selling now: After all, you will be buying and selling in the same market, and if you sell now and are looking at spending more on your next property, it’s cheaper to spend
20% more on a low value than 20% more on a higher value. And of course once you’ve sold property prices may drop further so you will have sold at a relatively higher price than you buy. In the previous market we saw plenty of people sell for what they thought was a fantastic price but discovered that if they didn’t buy quickly, prices could run away from them.
As is always the case, there are always people in the market that have to buy or sell, so whichever side of the fence you are on you can be pretty much assured of getting a good result.