There seems to be a pick-up in
listings in the last few weeks with many buyers revelling in the fact that they
have an increasing choice of properties to view, putting even more pressure on
our sellers to reduce their expectations of price on their properties to be
ahead of the competition. This is not a trend we were hoping for as Cairns
properties continue to languish at 2005 prices. It seems many sellers are
finally giving up on the hope of an improvement in the market and pressing on
with life plans. Life does go on, people get older, families grow out of their
homes, many scale down, circumstances change. An interesting fact is that at
any given time, 3% of people are either in buying or selling mode. A return to
normal stock levels will definitely have some sort of impact on our prices and
with so many variables in the global and domestic outlook, it is anyone’s guess
as to what to expect in 2013.
Cairns in summary for November:
·
Volumes
of sales are still increasing, though prices still falling
·
Medium
house price is $330,000, a reduction of 3.7% since the same time in 2011
·
Medium
unit price is $179,000, a 4.4% reduction since the same time in 2011
·
Rental
vacancy rate for houses are at 1.3%, units 2.5% (Overall 1.9% - down from 2.4%
last month)
·
Building
Approvals return to growth with a 24% increase in the past 12 months
·
Since
2008, Mortgagee in Possession & Receivership sales accounted for a trend
level 13.6% of all residential sales in September 2012
To keep your finger on the pulse, the
November Herron Todd White Cairns Watch Property Report has just been released.
You can find it here: http://www.cairnswatch.com.au/uploads/uploads/201211property.pdf
We are still experiencing good numbers
through advertised Open Homes, in fact I had over 60 people visit an acreage
property last Sunday! On average 4-5 groups through most Open Homes. Real
estate is a numbers game, the more people through, the better chance of selling
but unless the advertised price is within 10% of where the buyers are, we are
wasting our time. Buyers have become “internet intellectuals”, more prepared
and more informed than ever.
The year
has ended with plenty of action and very pleasing results in comparison to last
year. It is now cheaper to buy than to rent and interest rates are at an
all-time low. As long as the prices are right, there are plenty of buyers about
and that’s the way we like it!
Have a great week!
