Qld auctioneer Justin Nickerson reveals top obstacle to selling under the hammer

Queensland auctioneer Justin Nickerson has revealed the biggest hurdle to clearance rates as the industry braces for another ‘uncomfortable’ year ahead.

Justin Nickerson speaking at AREC 2023

A “loop of blame” is hindering the success of home sales by trapping sellers who demand excessive prices and buyers who submit below-market value offers, according to Queensland auctioneer Justin Nickerson.

Addressing an audience of 4000 at the Australasian Real Estate Conference (AREC) on the Gold Coast, the director of Apollo Auctions said a gulf of about 17 per cent existed between the price expectations of vendors and homebuyers.

Mr Nickerson said a sales agent’s role was to work around “two rules” at play in the current real estate market:

1. Sellers always want too much;

2. Buyers don’t want to pay it.

AREC founder John McGrath

“When these two friction points hit upon each other we can’t get a transaction together,” he said.

Feedback from buyer inspections during the sales campaign provided an opportunity for agents to help vendors understand the market, he said.

And with buyers ditching FOMO — fear of missing out — on the back of 11 interest rate rises since last year, the ability to bridge the gap between price expectations was the most important factor in closing a sale.

“Buyers’ motivation has shifted from love to greed ... we are not in a FOMO market anymore, the buyer needs to see value.

“It is going to be another year of uncomfortable conversations, rightly or wrongly,” Mr Nickerson said.

The conference was held over two days on the Gold Coast

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Despite the slower market conditions, Mr Nickerson said there were plenty of opportunities for committed agents, with the Australian population now more transient than ever.

The average time for a “buyer to turn into a seller” had almost halved, from 7 to 3.5 years.

Clearance rates at recent auctions had dipped to 11 per cent, where no prior written offers for the property were submitted, but this number rose to a buoyant 97 per cent in cases where 3 offers had been made during the campaign, Mr Nickerson said.

Proptrack’s Home Price Index showed national home prices continued to stabilise in April and we up 0.14 per cent after rising for the fourth consecutive month.

The cumulative increase in 2023 was 0.75 per cent.

Mr Nickerson joined a line-up of 33 celebrity and motivational speakers alongside industry leaders at the two-day conference, now in its 25th year.

Mr Nickerson addressed the crowd of 4000

Speakers included Academy Award winner Reece Witherspoon and Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, an Olympic athlete who captured world attention in 2015 coming out as a transgender woman.

AREC founder John McGrath said the conference focused on providing mindset training and useful content to allow agents of all levels of experience to grow their business.

“And with so much change happening in the industry and the world right now, the need to expose yourself to global best practice has never been greater than it is today,” Mr McGrath said.

“Success in our industry is enjoyed by those who choose to reinvent, adapt and grow.”

Real estate agents from Australia and New Zealand attended

Originally published as Qld auctioneer Justin Nickerson reveals top obstacle to selling under the hammer