If you have been thinking to yourself that it feels a little spooky around the traps at the moment and that half of the world has gone away, they have.
Since COVID and travel restrictions the increased mass migration of Lower North Shore residents to Europe/Bali/anywhere-but-here in July has been impossible not to notice.
The knock-on effect to the local property market is an annual hard stop. Sales activity tends to shut down and won’t fire up again until after school goes back. Sure, the odd agent will try and sell you the contrarian view of ‘list when there is less stock so you get more buyers etc etc’ but that’s flawed thinking.
Anyone working within the industry would not list their own property into this dead period knowing much of the target market is either away or holding back to see what new inventory pops up post-July.
When selling the key to establishing the right value for your home is gaining market context. Knowing that you have reached all of the right buyers (at around the same time) gives you the necessary data to make the right decisions.
It’s the same when buying, the goal is to see everything that’s available and then decide what’s the best option for you. That said sometimes buyers can fall prey to an expensive mistake, the fed-up purchase.
It’s super frustrating when you want to move and the available options are low but you have to be careful to not buy the wrong property. It’s costly to undo the mistake, stamp duty is no joke.
If you are a buyer in the current market I would suggest you keep your powder dry, wait for the inevitable influx of new stock post school holidays and then make your play. Another piece of advice is to try and buy the property that you will need five years from now…you want to grow into it over time.
Finally, I’d like to thank Alex Myers for his five years of service at Murphy Residential. Alex has taken on a new role at McGrath and on behalf of myself and the team we wish him every success in his new venture.
Until next week,
David Murphy