Buyers in hot seat: ’Sellers need to be more realistic’

New listings have risen for a sixth straight month in this hot property market, putting buyers in the hot seat.

Buyers are competing for more homes in Brisbane, with new data revealing the number of properties hitting the market rose again last month.

PropTrack’s latest listings report reveals new listings have now risen for six straight months in the Queensland capital, providing more choice for home hunters.

The report found new listings rose 5.1 per cent last month, marking the highest volume of new listings for a September in Brisbane since 2018. They also rose 5 per cent in September in regional Queensland.

This five-bedroom house at 13 Plumeria Close, Kenmore, has just been listed for sale.

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said annually, total listings in Brisbane were still lower compared to a year ago, but the rise in new listings was encouraging.

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“The increase in new listings is important because when you start looking, you try and buy something and if you don’t, you’re then hanging out for those new listings,” Mr Kusher said.

“There’s a level of confidence from people who own properties to put them on the market at the moment and that’s taking some of the urgency out of the market for buyers.

Cameron Kusher, director of economic research at PropTrack.

“When there’s more stock and more stock coming, there’s a bit more of a sense of ‘if I miss out on this, it’s not the end of the world’, so for people trying to buy a property, it’s really positive. For sellers, it means they have to be more realistic about prices.”

Brisbane’s western suburbs recorded the biggest year-on-year increase in new listings — 36.5 per cent higher than the previous year, followed by Brisbane’s southern suburbs.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the more properties for sale usually suggested price growth would moderate, but so far Brisbane was defying that trend.

This five-bedroom house at 47 Bundah St, Camp Hill, has just been listed for auction.

“During the pandemic, we saw a big jump in properties for sale. Sellers were motivated by strong market conditions and we didn’t see a slow down in pricing until interest rates started to rise,” Ms Conisbee said.

“Conversely, a lot of properties are coming to market at the moment. Melbourne and Sydney are seeing price moderation as a result, however this is being driven by higher taxes and high interest rates. Interestingly, more properties are coming up for sale in Brisbane and Perth and a similar slowdown is not occuring.”

This five-bedroom house at 31 Mandalay St, Fig Tree Pocket, has just been listed for offers over $3.25m.

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said high vendor price expectations was still getting in the way of properties not selling, but those who “listened to the market were handsomely rewarded”.

Mr Croft said he saw “real aggressive, high energy bidding across multiple auctions” at the weekend.

“The market’s responding really well and has come out of the school holiday hiatus,” he said.

Originally published as Buyers in hot seat: ’Sellers need to be more realistic’