Sellers are holding the competitive advantage in the market

By Hayden Groves

One of the major problems with the property market across the nation right now is the blockages caused by short housing supply. Would-be sellers - whether up or down-sizing – are ‘stuck’ because they are struggling to find property that meets their needs and with short rental supply too, the usual ‘fall-back’ of renting for a period is also problematic.

With only around 5,000 properties listed for sale on reiwa.com buying opportunities are limited considering there were around 14,000 listings only four years ago. However, if you are considering selling your property, it's worth considering bringing your property to market sooner rather than later. With interest rates rising and the usual spring listing rush not far away, more supply could come into the market.

That said, it remains likely supply will remain below average levels for some time, particularly given anticipated increases in migration, piling on pressure on the demand side. Buyers remain hungry for quality property despite recent interest rate rises with sales numbers running at about 925 per week metro wide.

The Reserve Bank’s rapid increases in official cash rates have added 35 percent to average mortgages in 12 months, or about $1,000 extra per month for an average mortgage. This is beginning to hurt those borrowers who took on low interest fixed rate mortgages in 2021, many of whom have properties in the outer suburbs. Supply in these markets is likely to rise if these borrowers can’t meet these higher repayments.

For property owners in and around Fremantle, coming to market now gives sellers the opportunity to buy closer to a settlement period that will align with more property coming to market in spring, avoiding the need for a ‘double move’. Sellers are holding the competitive advantage in the market so there’s opportunity to negotiate outcomes that include things like an extended settlement period or ‘rent back’ options.

Importantly, in this market selling and buying within the same time-frame is preferrable as property values continue to rise, choice remains constrained and investors turn their attention to our under-valued market.