Watching Paint Dry.

It’s a fact that the recent steep rise in interest rates has cooled the property market and in many categories has led to significant price falls. See that wasn’t so bad...was it?

The real victims here are the agents…sad. Why? When the market cools, less people sell…it’s that simple. Listings are the lifeblood of a real estate business so when you repeatedly hear ‘there’s not much stock’ that means your favourite fridge magnet featured fast talking Rangy rocking agent is making less monero. Perhaps we should pause for a moments silence to pay tribute? *crowd fails to heed, plates clink, room remains noisy and disengaged.

Anyway, the observation here is that we are in part of a market cycle that will of course change again. Market runs hot, sellers cash in. Too many people cash in, the playing field levels. The market goes soft, activity drops, buyers ‘wait and see’ and slowly that pool of buyers increases and prices firm up again. Sellers that have waited notice the shift, come out of hibernation and then the market takes off. Fun fact, the property market goes up quickly but grinds down slowly.

So here we all are…smack bang in the middle of the ‘wait and see phase’…yawn.

Advice…if you need to move:

(A) If you are afraid to buy first, then you should sell first (and ideally get a longer settlement).

(B) If you are afraid to sell first, then you should buy first but be cautious on your exit (and ideally get a longer settlement).

To self-diagnose:

If you have had your house appraised more than three times in the past twelve months go to point (A).

If you have been looking for more than three months what are you doing with your life? Surely there are better things to do than be at open houses on a Saturday? Oh please tell me that is true, I need to know this for retirement.

And yes I know, these newsletters aren’t as exciting as they once were…maybe a sign of the times?

Until next week,

David