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2020 and Beyond - a Seller's Market

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2020 and Beyond - a Seller's Market

It is about this time that I stick my neck out every year with some thoughts about what this year holds for our real estate market.
 
First of all some basic parameters:

  • Interest rates don't look like they are going to go up, if anything they will go down although the way the job figures and the economy generally are shaping up I think it likely that they will stay where they are.

  • Fewer people seem to be interested in moving even though Southern Gold Coast prices are now higher than their previous peak in 2018.

  • Open House numbers are strong although the amount of property for sale might be exaggerating this.

  • In the lower end of the market, below $500,000, the government's 5% deposit scheme which eliminates mortgage insurance for 10,000 people a year is showing up in sales already although it is likely to be an annual seasonal event.

If you are moving around in this market, that is you going to sell and buy again with the right advice and marketing it is a good time to do so. It is also a good time to realise some serious cash on an investment property.
 
With the number of buyers around this is not the time to stint on marketing or go for an off market sale. Just the opposite, you should be going to maximise the number of buyers you can reach.
 
Almost by definition off market sales are made to buyers that salespeople have been working with for weeks if not months and it is seductive to think that a quick phone call or email and a half a dozen cashed up buyers will come through your property and one of them will probably make you an offer. But, for the sake of $2000 or $3000 worth of well targeted marketing, you could get a lot more competition for your property and a much better price.
 
The way we market has been evolving for several years, print has been dropping and “internet” marketing has been growing. It has now also reached the stage where 60% to 70% of digital marketing is received on handheld devices, mainly phones not on PCs.
 
In itself this is not a problem for us but it is affecting email opening rates on Outlook 365 and Gmail which cover almost 70% of email accounts.
 
Both are now sorting mail into “Focused” and Other. If you don't want to look at your Other email you don't have to. Worst case scenario you can just delete it. We are seeing opening rates for some types of email marketing dropping.
 
Facebook marketing can be tightly targeted but they are limiting Organic (free) reach and forcing advertisers to buy feed.
 
As far as stock levels and prices are concerned the United States and Canadian markets are very similar to the Australian market except on a much larger scale and a wider geographic spread in terms of affordability.
 
We have one of our marketing team in the USA at the moment at one of the biggest tech related Real Estate Conferences looking for the latest marketing there
 
So, a good year ahead I think but not without its challenges!
 

by David Hamilton


2020 and Beyond - a Seller's Market
palmbeachfn.com.au February 2020
First National Palm Beach
Cnr of 6th Ave & Cypress Terrace, Palm Beach, QLD 4221

Ph: 07 5559 9600
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