Is now a good time to sell your house? We ask the top agents

Are houses selling at the moment? Which suburbs are hot and what price brackets are moving? We asked seven experts.

This beautiful house at 18 Sutton St, Chelmer, recently sold for about $1.6 million despite the disruption from coronavirus.

You’d think selling a house in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century would be a bad idea, right?

Well, you’d be wrong, at least in Brisbane’s inner west according to some leading estate agents.

They said while buyer numbers were down, “tyre kickers’’ had dropped out, leaving only highly motivated buyers.

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Many of those were offering cash, unconditional, in an effort to try to leverage a good deal.

But prices were still holding up remarkably well, particularly at the lower end where first homeowners had been lured out by the attraction of record low interest rates.

Brisbane West Real Estate principal, Franzwa Van Vuuren, said as an example he had sold three acreage properties at Anstead and Pinjarra Hills in the past week and a half alone.

“And two weeks ago we sold 13 Akina St, Kenmore, cash unconditional, for $820,000 — we could have got more if we had tried for another two weeks, but the owners were motivated to sell quickly so they could move into acreage they had bought at a good price,’’ he said.

“The $750,000 to $950,000 price bracket is still doing remarkably well.’’

Matt O’Neill, from Belle Property Toowong, said Chapel Hill and Kenmore had been hot for two years and continued to sell well.

“North of $900,000 has been doing well, possibly because those buyers are often professional people who have not lost their jobs, who have good savings and good credit scores,’’ Mr O’Neill said.

He had not been tempted to go in for novel online selling techniques, saying all that was needed was a floor plan, professional video and good sales techniques.

“At the end of the day, no one is going to buy without actually walking through a place,’’ he said.

South of the river at Sherwood and Graceville, Ray White has recorded almost normal levels of sales.

“In the past 21 days we have sold 19 homes,’’ Ray White principal Cameron Crouch said.

“That’s pretty much on par with what we normally did in the era before coronavirus.

“There aren’t as many buyers around but they’re genuine.

“Listings have come down but those people who have chosen to go to market have benefited because there’s more competition for their properties.’’

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Mr Crouch said auctions were still strong despite the ban on in-room events.

Next Wednesday’s Ray White virtual auction, for example, originally had eight properties but three had already sold, cash unconditional, and there were multiple buyers interested in the remainder.

Jack Dixon, from Dixon Estate Agents, said transactions were down 30-40 per cent in Indooroopilly, Taringa, Toowong, St Lucia, Chelmer and Graceville.

“But there have been no forced sales, no discounting. When something comes on the market, buyers have to put their best foot forward,’’ he said.

“Although there’s been a bit of hibernation, the buyers are quality and the $750,000 to $1.2 million bracket has been fairly active.

“Our office recently sold a lovely home at 18 Sutton St, Chelmer, for about $1.6 million, which is a good price.’’

The property is on a tree-lined street, one of the suburb’s most sought-after, on an 834 sqm block over two lots with stunning 1930s ceilings.

Leighton Jones, from Leighton Jones Real Estate, who specialises in the Kenmore area, said $700,000-$800,000 properties were still very much in demand.

“I listed one at 5.30pm last night (Monday, April 20) and I had an offer this morning,’’ Mr Jones said.

“We list about one property a week, in normal times, and I’ve listed four in the last four weeks, so numbers are holding up.

“But agents definitely need to be more creative. Before (coronavirus) we did videos for 60 per cent of the houses we sold and that’s something which is important in this market.’’

Raine & Horne Brisbane West’s Jade Kingi, who specialises in Toowong, St Lucia, Kenmore and surrounds, said they had had offers on everything that went to market, from $309,000 homes up to $1 million.

“It’s a lot better than what we could have hoped for,’’ Mr Kingi said.

“The hit rate (number of buyers to sales) is definitely up. People who were just tyre kicking, who were really only interested six to 12 months down the line, have dropped out.

“We’re seeing both first home buyers and investors looking to drive a bargain if they can.

“Listings have dropped, so we’re doing a lot more off-market listings.’’