Anyone trying to navigate the Aussie property market over the past few months – years even – knows what a circus it has become.
From the lack of listings to the insane competition for every single property, it is a bit like the Downunder version of Spain’s Running with the Bulls.
It is absolute carnage, with every buyer experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out) and the real estate agent playing matador.
At best, you emerge with the top prize (a home and unscathed).
At worst, you come out battered and bruised with yet another offer rejected and the prospect of running the gauntlet again the following weekend.
What tackling the Brisbane property market feels like right now. (Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP)
I like to think I have a pretty good understanding of the property market, but even I found myself frustrated after about six weeks of searching and attending roughly 30 open homes.
Even I was frustrated and deflated, and I like to think I understand the property market
Last year was a big year for my family and I was already exhausted.
We were living in Far North Queensland, having bought our first home after deciding to make the move to the region two years earlier for affordability and lifestyle reasons.
But the sudden and unexpected death of a loved one meant we had to make some tough decisions.
So we listed the house and made the move back to Brisbane.
Living in a friend’s townhouse about 95km north of Brisbane, every weekend was spent travelling down the dreaded Bruce Highway and dragging the kids to open homes across the city.
The Bruce Highway is often a carpark. Picture: ABC
But at every open home we were met with dozens of desperate buyers, from first home buyers to investors, and everyone in between.
Inevitably, the advertised price range was often nowhere near what the home sold for.
One was first advertised for offers over $1.1 million.
Shortly after, it was listed for offers over $1.2 million. It sold for $1.3 million.
This house sold for $1.3 million
Another one was listed for offers over $1.1 million and sold, after receiving multiple offers, for $1.26 million.
This house sold for $1.26 million
Another house, listed for offers over $1.1 million, sold for $1.2 million.
While another that was listed as ‘inviting all offers’ and filtered into the $1.1 million to $1.2 million bracket sold for $1.325 million.
This house for $1.325 million, way above the suggested price range
Meanwhile, a four bedroom house that was listed for offers over $1.025 million sold for $1.2 million after just 16 days on the market.
And there were plenty of others with no price range that went well beyond the backdoor price filter hack.
This house sold for $1.2 million
The latest REA Market Trends report shows the median days on market in Brisbane is currently 28 days, but many of the properties I looked at were under offer much faster.
It was deflating to say the least, with the median house price in Greater Brisbane hitting a new record high of $1.178 million in January, an increase of $149,000 in just 12 months.
A recent report from SQM Research noted that Australia was facing one of its most significant supply shortages in years, with the steepest annual falls in listings in Darwin (-36.7%), Brisbane (-19.6%) and Perth (-18%).
Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA) president Melinda Jennison said the sharp annual declines in cities like Brisbane, Perth and Darwin reflected what buyers’ agents were seeing on the ground.
“When listings fall nearly 20 per cent or more in a year, as they have in Brisbane, buyers simply don’t have enough choice,” she said.
“That’s when access to pre‑market and off‑market opportunities becomes absolutely critical.”
‘Out of control’: Brisbane house prices up $149k in just one year
Brisbane’s home prices continue to soar, hitting a new record high in January. Picture: TEQ/Richard Greenwood
Bright Agent founder Aaron Scoot also warned that many buyers were losing time and money on properties that were selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than their price guide.
He said it was a tactic being used by agents to capture a wider audience by advertising homes in a lower price bracket.
“Underquoting is one of the most frustrating parts of house hunting,” Mr Scott said.
“You fall in love with a place, line up your finance, pay for reports…and then bang – it sells hundreds of thousands above the guide.”
It was exactly my experience and suffice it to say, I had enough, so I reached out to buyer’s agency Cohen and Handler and was assigned Nicholas Comino.
Within a week, Nic had a list of properties to look at, and in one day I looked at them all, with one property standing out above the rest.
As I walked through the home, Nic checked everything from the lights to the stovetop, inspected the foundations and the brickwork.
Just like our first home purchase, I could immediately see the potential and within days, I put in an offer.
It wasn’t the only offer but with Nic’s help, we crafted my offer to beat the other one on the table with better conditions.
Nic spoke to the agent, liaised with my solicitor and the seller’s solicitor, attended the building and pest inspection as I was working, and generally made the whole process easier.
Cohan & Handler buyer’s agent Nicholas Comino
And that was a good thing as I was handling the sale of our other home at the same time.
As it turned out, I sold and bought on the same day which I would not recommend – the paperwork was flying thick and fast.
We moved into our new home just before Christmas, which was my ultimate goal.
“Buying a property is often the largest amount of money that people will ever spend in their life,” Mr Comino said.
“People hire a buyer’s agent for a multitude of reasons.
“They could be time-poor professionals, investors seeking advice on the hotspots set to grow within the market or someone wanting a professional in their corner representing them through the end-to-end process of purchasing a property.”
Mr Comino said he had seen a “large increase” in people seeking help from a buyer’s agent.
“More and more people are reaching out to us on a daily basis as they are struggling to do it themselves,” he said.
Mr Comino said the three most common reasons buyers were seeking expert help were access to on and off-market stock, help to beat the competition and help with negotiating.
And any help is good help given that Hot Property Buyers Agency managing director Zoran Solano said the gap between the strongest and weakest buyer profiles had never been more pronounced – the top of the hierachy being cash, unconditional buyers, the bottom being subject to sale buyers.
Hot Property Buyers Agency managing director Zoran Solano.
And Mr Solano said Queensland’s private treaty system made these distinctions even more pronounced.
However, he said, that appointing a professional buyers’ agent can instantly elevate a buyer’s position in the hierarchy, regardless of their tier.
“By having a buyer’s agent, it’s like throwing a wild card in the deck – all of a sudden you come up a little bit higher in the ranking,” he said.
“Selling agents trust buyer’s agents because they know their clients have been vetted and are financially prepared to proceed with the sale.”
Ms Jennison said that buyers’ agents were increasingly being relied upon to uncover opportunities that never reached the major portals because of the current mismatch between available listings and demand from property purchasers.
“In a tight‑supply environment, access is everything,” she said.
“A skilled and experienced buyers’ agent helps clients move quickly, negotiate confidently and avoid costly mistakes.
“In markets where listings are shrinking year‑on‑year, that expertise can be the difference between securing a home and missing out repeatedly.”
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REBAA president Melinda Jennison. Photo: Supplied
And Nic’s ability to negotiate directly with the agent made all the difference.
While I had confidence in my ability to also drive a hard bargain, the fact is I was time poor and, well, over it.
According to Very Well Mind, the death of a loved one ranks as the top life stressor, and we were already dealing with all that comes with that.
Moving house also ranks among the top stressors, especially if it is unexpected, which, in our case, it was.
Suffice it to say, I was also trying to work, look after the kids and handle the vast amounts of paperwork that doesn’t just stop because you are stressed.
The paperwork doesn’t stop just because you are stressed
Having someone like Nic to do the heavy-lifting meant I could get on with the things that could not be shelved until a later date.
And that alone was worth every cent.
*According to REBAA, buyers agents typically charge an average fee somewhere between 2% and 3% of the purchase price plus GST and an engagement fee, or a flat fee based on the purchase price and an engagement fee. The writer received a discount of the full service rate.
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