Off-market property deals surge as buyer competition heats up for limited options

Door knocking and letterbox drops are back as desperate property buyers miss out on the increasing number of off-market deals.

Charlton Dall'asen with his son Matt are selling their family Redfern home off-market. Picture: Ryan Osland

Buyers are resorting to knocking on doors as the number of off-market surge as lockdowns and virus concerns push the number of available properties lower.

An online property search highlights how few are on the market, especially at a time when numbers would normally be rising to take advantage of the spring selling season, causing the glut of buyers to compete in high-end and well sought-after areas.

But that is only part of the story, with Simon Cohen, founder of buyers agency Cohen Handler, noting about 80 per cent of the deals being made by his team at the moment are off-market.

“It’s become a relationship game, not a marketing game,” Mr Cohen said.

In the past six weeks alone, Mr Cohen has made three multimillion-dollar deals along the harbourfront at Vaucluse, in Sydney’s east. It coincides with the $22m deal struck by television personality Kerri-Anne Kennerley, who sold her family home in nearby Woollahra off-market to an unknown buyer without the help of an agent.

Data released by property researchers at analytics firm CoreLogic shows every state capital has recorded a lift in the number of new real estate listings over recent weeks, but the number of properties is still below the five-year averages in every city apart from Adelaide, Perth and Darwin.

One inner-city realtor, BresicWhitney, has developed its own platform for off-market selling after sustained demand over the past five years. The agency’s head of sales, Thomas McGlynn, said off-market interest was sometimes so strong it could result in competitive auctions.

“Given we operate in such a nice geographical location, we are engaging with the same buyers constantly so it can get quite competitive through the online real estate portals,” Mr McGlynn said.

“Because of that, sellers can still have huge exposure in an off-market capacity.”

Charlton Dall’asen and his wife are quietly offering their terrace home in the inner-city suburb of Redfern with their son Matthew, 21, is attending more lectures online than on campus at Sydney University. Mr Dall’asen said it was about convenience given for both the family and potential buyers in light of the current outbreak

“Going off-market takes a lot of the anxiety and pressure out of (the process) for both parties. Everyone is comfortable, especially with Covid,” he said.

“It also allows buyers to absorb the property and get their finances in order while we look to find something else.”

The property is being offered by BresicWhitney’s Maclay Longhurst, priced at about $4m.

It is a similar environment in Brisbane, where Cohen Handler’s Queensland managing director, Jordan Navybox, says half of all properties changing hands in sought-after suburbs like New Farm, Ascot and Hawthorne are sold before being listed,

“There are some really sought- after areas where buyers are returning to door knocking and letterbox dropping,” Mr Navybox said. “Sellers are doing it for the ease of transaction, to save on additional marketing fees, and are also recognising how many buyers are in the market so they feel that, with the right relationship, they can get a good price.”

However, the same phenomena is not playing out in Melbourne. The return of one-on-one viewings last week caused a spike in inspection demand from buyers but off-market transactions have also been slow as many are apprehensive to hand over big amounts of money under the restrictions, market analysts told The Australian.