We might barely be into the year but we are already seeing signs that FOMO is alive and well
We might barely be into the year but we are already seeing signs that FOMO is alive and well (and frankly, justified) as choice remains thin on the ground for buyers looking for their next home.
While it has felt for some time that a wave of newly listed properties should be just around the corner, housing stock is still beyond tight, with a handful of homes (or less in some cases) available in each suburb and some price points and property types just not there, full stop.
Using realestate.com.au as our property barometer, there were a total of 624 active for sale listings across the Cairns Greater Region (Babinda to Palm Cove and west to Kuranda) as of Monday this week, excluding properties already reported as under contract. The same time of year, 4 years ago we had an additional two thousand options on the market. In other words, buyers today have a quarter of the choices they had then, and will pay significantly more today for the few options they do have available.
As hard as those facts might be for a buyer to digest though, prices today still represent good value, particularly against the cost of replacement and the yields achievable here versus our capital cities. It doesn’t mean a buyer can’t reminisce over the “good old days” of 2019 though when $250,000 bought a neat unit in a Stratford or Freshwater, and $500,000 was a modern home in most suburbs.
There remain far more buyers than sellers in the market, and well-priced and presented homes are still seeing their owners spoilt for choice with offers – typically in pretty short order. Benchmarks continue to tumble and we are regularly seeing cases where values increase by $10,000 or $20,000 over comparable properties in the space of a few months just because of that lack of availability. A unit sells in complex, with 3 offers received. The buyers that miss out then jump quicker and increase their offer to secure the next one, rather than risk having to pay even more later. Its similar behaviour to what we saw in the headier days of 2021 and early 2022, albeit on a smaller scale due to the smaller number of transactions.
How do you avoid kicking yourself later? It’s the same fundamentals its always been. Contact the agent early, telegraph your interest and get the paperwork done as quick as you can. Cheeky offers or a low start occasionally work, but if you really want the property, be prepared to take it seriously.