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GUEST OBSERVATION
If November trends are anything to judge by, the property markets in Sydney and Melbourne could be in for a shakeup in 2015.
While some reports suggest housing prices show no sign of easing, others have argued that a strong increase in the volume of property listings in November has given buyers more choice and stunted price growth.
If the latter is true, could the power be slowing shifting back into the hands of the buyer? And if so, what does this mean for the overall property market? Has the frequently discussed “property bubble” started to deflate, albeit slightly?
These questions are difficult to answer looking at the sales figures for one month alone, however according to CoreLogic RP Data, auction clearance rates dipped noticeably across the two largest auction markets of Sydney and Melbourne.
Clearance rates are now sitting at around 70% in Sydney, and in the mid-60% range in Melbourne, compared to the beginning of spring when clearance percentages were typically recorded in the high seventies. RP Data also suggested that property prices dipped by 0.3% nationally in November, off the back of a 2.6% drop in Melbourne alone.
Throughout November, our buyers’ agents at Cohen Handler noticed a change in seller behaviour and witnessed some unprecedented examples of the market’s potential shift, with properties being sold below the reserve price or bank valuation.
For example, Cohen Handler recently purchased an apartment in Bellevue Hill in Sydney for $1,285,000. To put this in context, Australian Property Monitors value a property of this size, number of bedrooms, and car spaces at between $1,775,000 and $1.92 million and the vendors initially requested $1.5 million.
For a seller to lower his or her asking price by close to a quarter of a million dollars is not something we have seen in the months leading up to November. This unusual behaviour seems to indicate that buyers are now holding a more substantial amount of power in property negotiation.
With interest rates currently at an all-time low, and negotiating power evidently shifting back into the hands of buyers, those looking to purchase property are better placed than ever before. As ever, it’s difficult to predict the future of the property market with any degree of accuracy, but as we move into 2015, buyers that have done their research are now in a good position to get the most for their dollar. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?
Ben Handler is the CEO of  buyer’s advocacy group <a href="https://www.cohenhandler.com.au/" target="_blank">Cohen Handler</a>. He is responsible for setting the overall vision, growth and strategy for Cohen Handler.
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BenHandler-oZpEisdU89

The balance of power is shifting back into the hands of buyers

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Property is the next industry to undergo the radical transformations that come from tapping 'big data'.
With great insight into markets and customer trends, industry players will make one of life’s biggest decisions less of a headache, time drain and financial burden.
Big data is transforming every industry it touches, from healthcare to manufacturing, and from fast moving consumer goods to education. With healthcare, analysing patient electronic records allows hospitals and healthcare systems to predict patient outcomes and to prescribe the very best medicines for patient’s condition.
One of the pioneers in healthcare big data is the Australian Institute of Healthcare Innovation, based at Macquarie University. Its director, Enrico Coiera, points to the massive potential waiting to be tapped as healthcare systems link together patient records and outcomes (in a suitable privacy-securing manner) and uses deep analytics to truly understand patient illnesses, and to get a handle on what works – and does not work – in terms of cutting edge treatment of patients.
Manufacturing is also moving to embrace the use of big data, as it shifts from one-size-fits all production to production where goods are customised to meet individual needs and desires. By analysing market trends and applying deep analytics, manufacturers can systematically understand the customisations that are selling (and those that are not) and then plan their supply chains to meet those production needs.
In short, big data will increase the ability to deliver a more satisfactory result at a quicker rate.
It’s only in the last few years that this revolution has truly begun to take hold, thanks to massive increases in data collection and storage, along with processing power and the software smarts needed to perform deep analysis on the data being collected. That’s where the key to big data lies – every business collects information about its customers, its operations, sales and prospects as part of its daily operations. Until recently, however, that data remained an untapped resource. It sat there, but few people knew what to do with it, or had the organisational smarts and technological chops to actually turn it into a business resource. Big Data is all about data analysis, and then generating insights that enable the organisation to better meet the desires of its customers and add extra value.
The next industry that big data will touch is in property. Until recently, property was all about bringing sellers together with potential buyers – and it was largely a hit and miss affair. Ads were placed in newspapers and online, and sales agents worked the phones to the best of their ability. But what they lack is a deep insight what buyers wanted, and the ability to link those needs and desires with market stock, regardless of whether that stock is available now, or will come onto the market in the future.
I believe the property industry needs to get much smarter about the way it uses data in order to bring buyers together with sellers in the marketplace. We’ve used data-driven insight to great success cutting the average property acquisition time from nearly half a year down to about one or two months. Such insights have led to quicker, more accurate matches between buyers and their new property. It helps create greater confidence for first time buyers, in what is a monumental event in anyone’s lifetime, whilst making the experience as painless and inexpensive as possible.
By harnessing every piece of data, and subjecting it to analysis, and then matching those insights with market data, buyer’s agents will be able to anticipate the desires of customers even before those customers realise what they are looking for.
In property, big data is a competitive advantage that not enough companies are using. That will change, but the first movers in the area are going to be the businesses that succeed and drive growth, as well as better outcomes for their customers.
Ben Handler is the CEO of buyer’s advocacy group <a href="https://www.cohenhandler.com.au/" target="_blank">Cohen Handler</a>. He is responsible for setting the overall vision, growth and strategy for Cohen Handler.
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Ben Handler

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