What is a buyers' market, and why are we in one?

WATCH: What is a buyers' market, and why are we in one?

Transcript

00:00Spring in Australia is typically a great time to sell your home.

00:04Your garden's looking lovely and people are fierce in a hunt for their next house.

00:09But you might have heard that this year we have a buyer's market.

00:13In simple terms, that means there's more supply than there is demand,

00:17and so buyers are able to have more negotiating power to find a place within their budget

00:22that they really want to live in.

00:24There actually has been a pretty strong ramp up through to the start of spring.

00:29So that suggests that we're coming into a time at the national level

00:33where there's actually more new listings coming to market than there are buyers,

00:37and that means buyer's choice.

00:40But it's not quite as simple as that.

00:42Even though property prices are decreasing in a lot of areas,

00:45most people are only able to borrow a relatively small amount of money at the moment.

00:49That means that people like first home buyers are either having to save a larger deposit

00:54or rely on help from families.

00:56Eliza said it also means that properties in the higher end of the market,

01:00where people are selling before they buy a new place,

01:03are actually more favourable for buyers than cheaper areas.

01:07We've seen these ongoing headwinds for housing demand.

01:10These include things like a high cost of living,

01:13which is eroding the household savings rate and how much money they can put towards property purchases.

01:19Weaker economic conditions, which is creating a drag on consumer confidence

01:23around large purchases like a property.

01:26And also interest rates, which of course remain high.

01:30Expectations are that we might not expect the first cut in the interest rates until 2025.

01:36And so that ultimately limits borrowing capacity as well.

01:39The first home buyer activity out there,

01:42and we're moving those properties along, you know, reasonably fast.

01:48Compared to when you get up to that million dollar to 1.5,

01:53that's where the struggle is.

01:55It's also not the same story in every state.

01:58Eliza said Tasmania and Victoria have the best buyers markets this spring.

02:02But in places like Queensland and Western and South Australia,

02:06the market's still quite tight.

02:07In the ACT, where I am, supply is starting to match demand.

02:11So we could see that happen here as well.