When I get back from our annual pilgrimage to Stradbroke Island each January, I check the front-line numbers to give me a read on how the sales and rental markets have woken up.
So now, with the last grains of sand washed off the car and my feet slowly becoming accustomed to wearing shoes again, it’s time to do the pulse check.
Researching both our sales and our rentals businesses, I check on-line views, open house attendee numbers and the offers/applications that are coming in.
As predicted the rental market is firing!
There is still a squeeze on available properties under $700 per week and the competition is fierce.
While the rain did dampen inspection numbers (pun intended), many tenants have been submitting applications ‘sight unseen’ just to secure a property.
With hundreds of applications pouring in.
Tip for tenants: Only submit fully completed applications, have your references ready for the call and, where possible, inspect the property.
On the sales side, it normally wakes up a little slower.
Across our group of six offices we conducted 120 opens in the first two weeks of this year, up from 89 last year. Pleasingly the average number of attendees is also up (only marginally) from 4.9 for 5.1.
A total of 609 buyers versus 444 last year. That’s massive when you consider there were more open houses conducted and the water was pouring.
That should mean, if things were the same, that the average number of attendees would be lower. This is a very good early sign for sellers heading into 2025.
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