Why home seekers aren’t buying despite favourable market conditions
Many would-be home buyers with pre-approval on a loan are still struggling to purchase, despite more favourable market conditions, and it’s not because of interest rates.
Many would-be home buyers with pre-approval on a loan are failing to take advantage of favourable purchasing conditions because they’re struggling to find suitable properties.
Property analytics and negotiations group Hello Haus revealed home seekers were finding it difficult to purchase quickly, despite a recent increase in listings and drop in buyer competition, because they were not preparing for their transactions properly.
Hello Haus chief negotiator Scott Aggett said their analysis showed pre-approved buyers were being paralysed into inaction.
“Buyers are getting their finance pre-approval, but difficulties afterwards with locating and negotiating on a property are causing them to take considerably longer than they should to contract,” he said.
“When they do purchase, most will have substantially compromised on what they set out to buy in the first place.
“We’ve also found that 45 per cent of buyers who do purchase express buyer’s remorse over their acquisition, while most on average take around seven months to purchase after gaining approval.”
Mr Aggett said buyers often had the wrong priorities. “Most buyers put a focus on getting finance ready and what the statistics suggest is there is no emphasis on getting themselves what we call, ‘buyer ready’.”
Many buyers weren’t honest about their property criteria before they started the house hunt, he said.
“Our research shows that buyers will, on average, view over 300 properties both online and in person before they act. That tells me they aren’t filtering their shortlists down nearly enough to avoid buyer fatigue.”
Constantly missing out on property was another factor causing buyers to take longer to secure a home, Mr Aggett said.
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Hello Haus research showed that, on average, buyers missed the first five properties they made offers on. The result was that many ended up overpaying and compromising to stop the fight.
“Inexperienced buyers often don’t move fast enough, so they get outmanoeuvred by their competition,” Mr Aggett said.
“Secondly, they don’t ask enough of the right questions. As a result, they then make very conditional offers or push for a contract that won’t suit the seller’s time frame.”
Other buyers panic when they can’t find their perfect property and begin compromising on their wish list, Mr Aggett said.
“But then those compromises go too far and burn out prospective purchasers who feel they are simply giving up too much of what they want to try and secure a home.
“Worse still are those who spend more than they intended on a home that’s less than ideal.
“Again, having that detailed checklist from the very beginning is essential. Be prepared before you start so you’re not caught out during the buying process.”
Originally published as Why home seekers aren’t buying despite favourable market conditions