More Aussie properties selling under list price

There’s potentially good news for home buyers that’s less positive for sellers, as CoreLogic reports that just over three quarters of properties sold for less than the original list price in recent months.

It’s next to impossible to escape the regular reporting that housing prices are lowering. Depending on the part of the market you see yourself in, if any, you have reasons to be happy or sad.

For many trying to buy a home, the news is potentially good, as the home they’re looking to buy could see a lower price; a move that can adversely affect home sellers. Recent news has suggested that this downturn is slowing, suggesting that it’s now or never for first home buyers looking to get in before the housing market recovers, but the latest data suggests the market hasn’t quite recovered yet.

A report from CoreLogic released this week suggests that nationally in the three months to April 2019, just over 75 per cent of properties sold for below the original list price, compared with the decade average of 69.3 per cent.

Sale prices of houses that were below their list price occurred more in cities such as Darwin, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth in the months beginning this year, all of which found over 70 per cent of properties were sold below the original list price. Comparatively, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Canberra appear to be hitting more original home list prices, with their respective rates found below the 70 per cent mark.

And depending on where in the market you find yourself, this is still potentially great or horrible news.

On the one hand, it could mean that as a buyer, you may not need as big a home loan because the buyer’s list price possibly won’t be matched, at least until that downturn starts to swing back up again.

For sellers, however, it means that they may potentially want to start positioning the list price a little more modestly, lest they become another statistic in the sale price system.

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