You can ask but probably won't receive

SELLERS haven't dropped their price expectations much even though vendor discounting rates are higher than normal.

SELLERS haven't dropped their price expectations much even though vendor discounting rates are higher than normal.

One of the biggest hurdles to completing a home sale is higher expectations of what a property is worth compared with what the market is prepared to pay.

As a result, with prices being so soft throughout the state for the past year to 18 months, average vendor discounting levels have been fairly high.

The percentage on average that sellers drop from their original asking price to achieve a sale is only now starting to ease, according to RP Data analyst Cameron Kusher.

At a time when more properties are starting to change hands, the average vendor discount rate in greater Brisbane is about 8.5 per cent.

Although that is down on the same time last year, when the figure was 9.3 per cent, Kusher says it is still higher than it should be.

He reckons in a good market the original asking price should come down by about 5.5-6 per cent.

There are some suburbs in Brisbane where that is already happening in the unit and house market.

Houses at Nathan have the lowest average vendor discounting of 5.1 per cent, according to RP Data figures for the year to August.

It is closely followed by Albion and Dutton Park, which both come in under 6 per cent.

In the unit market, Wavell Heights owners are reducing their asking price the least, with its average vendor discounting rate only 4.3 per cent, which means if the original listing price is $425,000 it would sell for $404,175.

Wellington Point, Stafford, Wishart, Calamvale, McDowall, Carina, Aspley and Sunnybank Hills units all have average vendor discounting levels under 6 per cent.

Kusher says that in the past six to 12 months the levels of vendor discounting have been fairly stable, although they have dropped a little.

"At the moment it is 8.5 per cent, but much of the drop happened about December last year,'' he says.

"It has been pretty stable since then.''

Kusher says despite the drop, on an historical basis it is still a fairly high level of vendor discounting.

"But the thing that has happened is average time on market has improved a bit.''

He says the slight drop could be because people are setting a more realistic asking price when they first go to market now.

Kusher believes there will gradually be improvements in vendor discounting levels and rises in median house prices but in both cases it will be a slow and steady process, it is unlikely to turn around too quickly.

He says the amount of stock on the market decreased in the September quarter, also a sign of improvement.

According to the latest figures for the month ending November 11, there were 11,519 newly advertised properties listed for sale in Queensland compared with 13,215 at the same time last year.

The total number of properties advertised for sale throughout the state is down 4211 on the same time last year.
Kusher says there is also a lift in transactions, with the largest number of homes and units trading for between $200,000 and $400,000.

"We are certainly a bit more positive about the Brisbane housing market now. It has been 5 1/2years since any real growth.''

THE LEAST DISCOUNTED
HOUSES
Suburb Avg vendor Median
discount
Nathan -5.1% $445,000
Albion -5.7% $588,500
Dutton Park -5.8% $729,250
Algester -6.1% $397,500
Gaythorne -6.1% $480,000
Arana Hills -6.1% $432,000
Newstead -6.2% $1,125,000
Berrinba -6.2% $392,750
Stafford Heights -6.2% $435,000
Fitzgibbon -6.2% $383,750
Wavell Heights -4.3% $402,500
Wellington Point -4.9% $384,250
Stafford -4.9% $367,460
Wishart -5.2% $340,000
Calamvale -5.5% $365,000
McDowall -5.6% n/a
Carina -5.8% $404,000
Aspley -5.9% $342,500
Sunnybank Hills -5.9% $358,500
Holland Park West -6.1% $345,000
Source: RP Data