Post-auction negotiations take Brisbane clearance rates closer to 70%: LJ Hooker
The current Brisbane market is throwing challenges at vendors and marketing agents, with large volumes of listed properties and a dwindling buyer group.
The buyers who are around are educated, and by majority, cautious and uncertain about where property prices and interest rates are heading.
This is a market where vendors have to be very careful about price-positioning their property. The auction process can deliver a best sale outcome in such conditions.
When offering a property with a predetermined asking price, vendors tend to err on the high side. That is widely recognised – it’s human nature.
This is potentially damaging to sale prospects, as it attracts less buyer interest and can increase time-on-market, which generally translates to negative buyer perception.
There are buyers in the market, but they can easily dismiss a property based on its initial listed price, and we are dealing with educated buyers who know roughly what price range they can expect without the listed price.
With an auction program, there is a rough four-week deadline which spurs on buyers to make up their mind. Through that period vendors get real feedback on where buyers are prepared to go with a price.
With a fixed price, in reality there is little a marketing agent can do in this market to encourage a buyer to act within a given time period.
In the current market, choosing which property to auction is far more about the seller being genuine about the sale and price expectation than about any particular ‘type’ of property.
In Brisbane a four- to six-week sale period is very achievable for realistic vendors.
Nothing creates interest and profiles a property better than an auction marketing program.
In most reports, auction results quoted are ‘under the hammer’ results and not a true indication.
At LJ Hooker Sunnybank Hills, a top-performing LJ Hooker office internationally year after year, 6% of auctioned properties sell prior to auction, 40% sell under the hammer, 16% in the 10 days post auction and a further 12% between 10 and 30 days.
That is a total of over 70% in six to eight weeks on market; add another 10% withdrawn from market because a vendor has had a genuine change of mind or decides that the result available to them does not suit their needs.
Presentation of a property to market and fair expectations on price are proving the best positioning for a sale and the auction marketing process delivers this best to vendors.
In Brisbane, prices are back to where they were three years ago. At that time, everyone was very excited – and they never thought prices could go even higher.
Prices being achieved on the current Brisbane market are very solid. The Gold Coast market is lagging a bit behind, but it’s also looking promising on the whole.
My final word is about choosing the right marketing agent for the job. Auction is a specialist method of sale so select an auction marketing specialist and agency just as you would engage a specialist for any other valuable asset, like your car – or your health!
Paul Moore has been principal of LJ Hooker Sunnybank Hills, Brisbane, for 10 about years.