Selling Property In 2018: What You Need To Know

It’s a big decision

Selling any kind of property is pretty much of an intense decision. This decision can either be against you or for you in terms of profit or loss. So, doing your market research before taking an action is crucial to a successful sale.

Look at the market broad-mindedly

Sometimes you need to look in a broad way to be able to see the complete picture. Newspapers love to create unnecessary hype which can confuse you; don’t let it confuse you! Do your own market research for everything but confirm thrice before sticking to a single fact.

The good news is that, the Sydney real estate market has seen a lot of positive improvements in terms of stabilization since the year 2017. However, we always emphasize on the fact that different markets have different traits. Focus on the micro factors which are related to your property and not the whole of Sydney’s property as the Inner West is a completely distinct area in terms of real estate.

What will be your first move?

Are you going to sell first or buy first? If you are planning to sell first, are the benefits going to be more than the ones gained by buying first? In either way, which step will you be standing on the property ladder?

Try to find out the value of your existing property. If that is good enough, you should go ahead with buying another property. However, if your current property is not standing a at good valuable position, it’s risky to move ahead for another one. Also, make sure to check your current circumstances and your financial condition to ensure that whatever decision you make is only going to move you forward and not backward or sideways. So, once again, your research is going to play a big role in this.

Don’t be hasty when it comes to the local agents

Local agents are going to make a huge impact on the success of your sale. They are the people whose job is to be completely immersed in the real estate market. They know each and every inch of it so using their years of experience, negotiation skills and working strategy can help you get your desired results.

If you are unsure about which agent is the right one for you, try to interview several local ones by asking them some common questions which you may have in your mind e.g. how much does my property worth? What can I do to improve the value of my property?

Don’t forget the buyer agents

If, by any chance, you choose to sell first and then buy another property, make sure you take full advantage of the buyer agents. Get one whom you think is experienced enough as the more experienced they are, the more aware they will be aware of the off-market opportunities and you will have a better chance of getting your next desired property at the right budget.

Has Technology Made The Traditional Real Estate Agent Obsolete?

It is true that technology has started to advance much more regularly than in the previous decades. However, there are some things that just cannot be replaced by the technology. Saying that technology can replace a traditional real estate agent is as irrational as saying that robotic females can replace human wives in the future. Yes, the robots can help you in doing the daily chores but they do not have a heart to process feelings and this is the exact point which we want to relate here.

Why technology cannot replace the real estate agents

Buying and selling real estate is much more than numbers and dreamy houses. It’s more about understanding the needs, feelings and emotions of a person to get them what they want. There are certain things that just cannot be replaced by the technology no matter how much it advances. Things which are depicted by past experiences, feelings or vibes of a particular place can only be comprehended by a human.

In addition, technology cannot point out to you the minute differences between one property and another. Think about sunshine trying to reach your room but getting blocked by a big building in between. Can technology understand why this is a deal-breaker? If you try to modify your search, you will just end up getting results of houses that have more artificial lights in them.

The point is, nature plays a great role in determining our mood and interest towards a particular place. Since this is only understood by humans, technology can never replace what one feels about something.

The bonding matters

The relationship between a real estate agent and a client is just like a close bond. Both of them are trying their utmost to make the other understand what they want. The deeper and better the bond is between two people, the easier it is for each other to comprehend the needs of one another. Hence, human relationships are one of the most important factors in almost any area of life and this is something which robots cannot replace. This is exactly why we mentioned at the start of this article that technology may make connectivity and communication easier but there’s no way technology can compete with a human relationship. It’s just like saying that money can buy love, it just cannot.

Advertising is only part of the selling process

Many people think that advertising their property is all that they need to do to get their property sold. This is not entirely true because advertising is just one of the steps that you need to make and there are several other steps that need to be taken to ensure a successful sale. Advertising does play a role as it’s crucial to allow your property to reach its potential buyers but just because you have access to technology, it does not mean that advertising is the only step you need to take or that it is the only move that needs to be made in the entire selling process.

As much as we emphasize on the role of agents is less. Let’s reiterate the fact that real estate agents are those people who know the property markets inside out. They’ve seen hundreds of thousands of sales and they’ve met countless buyers of distinct nature and preferences. So, a real estate agent is someone who is extremely experienced in his work. He knows what he’s doing and he’s only there to help you sell your property. In addition, technology cannot help you negotiate with your client but an agent certainly can and that also in a very impressive and skillful way.

Technology can make a real estate agent even stronger

Whether technology can replace real estate agents or not is one way to look at the argument but what if technology itself is used in order to strengthen the way the agents work?

It’s true that technology alone is also powerful, no doubt. The ability to instantly update your social media status, add messages on your Facebook campaigns with a single click, talking to people for free via chat, finding out useful data and extracting out the trends – it can’t get easier than that!

However, you still need real estate agents to walk the streets, connect with the people, get to know what they are looking for and work in your favor. With technology available at hand, real estate agents can also carry out all types of communications with an internet which can save up a great ton of time and speed up the process.

Capital Gains And The Housing Market’s Effect On Wealth

The strong capital gains evident across the Sydney and Melbourne housing market have created a significant boost in wealth for home owners who were fortunate enough to own a property through the latest growth cycles.

However, CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said the rate of capital gain has been remarkably lower across other markets with home owners outside of Sydney and Melbourne now seeing far less accrued equity from their housing assets.

“On the flipside, there are also those housing markets where dwelling values have fallen, particularly in areas associated with the mining sector where a larger proportion of properties in these regions are now worth less than their original purchase price,” he said.

When CoreLogic measured the wealth effect, their analysis measured two aspects of wealth accumulation via the housing sector: What proportion of dwellings are now worth double their purchase price and what proportion are worth at least 10% less than their purchase price.

Nationally, the proportion of dwellings where the value of the property was at least double the purchase price has slipped over the past decade falling from 45.4% of dwellings in 2007 to 39.1% in 2017. The slump was evident across regions outside of Sydney and Melbourne where capital gain conditions have been much softer over the past decade.

The proportion was highest in Sydney, where 48.1% of dwellings are now worth at least double what their owners paid for them; ten years ago the proportion was much lower at 37.2% Melbourne follows close behind with 47.3% of dwellings worth at least twice what their owners paid (up from 38.1% ten years ago).

The remaining capital cities show a much lower proportion of dwellings that are worth at least double their purchase price, ranging from 25.9% of dwellings in Darwin to 37.4% in Hobart. Across the broad ‘rest of state’ markets outside of the capitals, regional Victoria stands out as showing the highest proportion of properties worth at least double the purchase price at 40.8%, followed by regional Western Australia at 34.8%.

The high proportion of properties worth at least double their purchase price across regional WA may come as a surprise, given the weak performance of the housing market across this region over the past five years, however a decade ago the proportion was substantially higher at 60.8%.

Over the past decade, the proportion of properties valued at less than 10% of their purchase price has risen slightly from 3.2% to 3.4% between 2007 and 2017. The national figures hide a significant difference between the major regions of the country.

The highest proportion of dwellings worth at least 10% less than their purchase price can be found in regional Western Australia, at 17.8%. Darwin (15.1%), Perth (11.1%) and regional Queensland (11.0%) have also recorded a significant proportion of dwellings where values have slipped more than 10% below the purchase price.

Ten years ago only, while the mining boom was in its early stages, regional Western Australia and Perth were recording the lowest proportion of dwellings where the value was more than 10% lower than the purchase price. In 2007 only 1.1% of Perth properties and 2.3% of regional Western Australian properties fit this profile.

The lowest proportion of dwellings with a valuation more than 10% lower than the purchase price can be found in Sydney (0.7%) and Melbourne (2.1%). Ten years ago, 7.1% of Sydney dwellings recorded a valuation that was more than 10% less than the purchase price, highlighting the effect of strong capital gains post GFC.

The Bowen Basin town of Dysart topped the list with 65.7% of dwellings showing a valuation that is at least 10% lower than the purchase price. Queensland’s Gladstone Central was close behind at 64.2% followed by South Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia at 64.0%.

“The good news for many mining regions is that housing market conditions seem to be moving through the bottom of their cycle,” Lawless said.

“Transaction numbers are generally rising and advertised stock levels are reducing which should help to promote some value recovery in these regions.

“As growth eases across Sydney and, to a lesser extent Melbourne, we may start to see a slow reversal of these trends.”

Originally published in www.theurbandeveloper.com dated October 2, 2017. Here’s the full text. 

Sydney property prices slide for first time in 17 months while Melbourne rises

Sydney house prices have declined for the first time in 17 months, the latest CoreLogic data reveals.

 

Home prices across Australia’s major cities inched higher in September, with Sydney’s rare dip weighing on the national index and offering more evidence that tighter lending rules were working to head off a debt-driven bubble in the sector.

 

Prices in Sydney eased 0.1 per cent in September, dragging the annual pace back to 10.5 per cent from 13 per cent in August.

 

Melbourne fared much better, however, with prices rising 0.9 per cent for September and 12.1 per cent on the year.

 

“This slowing in the combined capitals growth trend is heavily influenced by conditions across the Sydney market where capital gains have stalled,” said CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless.

 

Property consultant CoreLogic said its index of home prices for the combined capital cities rose just 0.3 per cent in September, from August when they edged up 0.1 per cent.

 

A slowdown is much desired by Australia’s main bank watchdog APRA which has tightened standards on investment and interest-only loans, leading banks to raise rates on some mortgage products.

 

The Reserve Bank of Australia has also been concerned that debt-fuelled speculation in property could ultimately hurt both consumers and banks.

 

“The stronger housing market conditions in Melbourne are supported by auction clearance rates which have consistently remained above 70 percent,” said Lawless.

 

“Additionally, advertised stock levels remain remarkably low and private treaty sales continue to sell rapidly, averaging 30 days on market.”

 

Conditions varied widely across other cities, with Hobart rising 14 per cent on the year while prices in Perth fell 2.9 per cent.

 

Outside the cities, prices edged up 0.1 per cent in September to be 5.6 per cent higher for the year.

 

The RBA holds its October policy meeting on Tuesday and is considered certain to keep rates steady again, in part because any further easing might only encourage more borrowing by already heavily indebted households.

 

The inexorable price rise in the major cities has taken homes out of the reach of many first-time buyers and become a political hot potato.

 

The conservative government of Malcolm Turnbull has blamed a lack of supply for the problem, while the opposition Labor Party has pointed the finger at favourable tax treatment for property investment.

 

This article was first published in The Sydney Morning Herald www.smh.com.au last October 2, 2017. Here’s the full text.