Australian Property: Buying and Selling at Christmas

We are now well into the silly season as far as Australia and New Zealand is concerned. Most kids seems to be out of school and parents are focused on buying, buying, buying. The slightly unusual thing this year there seem to be a fair few people are buying property not just Christmas presents. So what is the property market like in Australia during the Christmas and holiday season?

Traditionally the end of the year has been considered a terrible time of year to sell property. Everyone is on holidays – well yes – but that in fact can be advantage depending on the type of property, location and whether you are buying or selling.

For example if you are trying off-load a holiday house, particularly property in popular seaside town - you definitely should have a property listed – and with an agent who is going to be actively working over the “dead zone” of the two weeks over Christmas and New Year. Think about it – all these people in town, relaxed, on holiday – what better mood to be in when you decide that you want to make this either a permanent arrangement or at least a regular holiday spot. These people are best placed to make an impulsive, irrational decision – the type that gives you, the seller, a nice selling price!

Christmas Decorations, Flinders St, Melbourne

On the other hand I have done well when buying in a big town over the same period. Everyone is out of town – the agents are all covering for each other, and seem almost surprised you want to view the property, the home opens are canceled and the local real estate advertising is suspended generally to late January. Making an offer with as little competition as possible will see you get a good deal – especially with the uneven and uncertain market at the moment.

Oddly enough the recent Australian mortgage rate rises doesn’t seem to have flattened auction clearance rates in the East – Sydney auction clearances last weekend were  65.1%, while Melbourne’s auctions saw 72.6% of properties listed sold.

However if you are considering buying or selling property between now and mid January you do need to do some homework.  Solicitors and conveyancers traditionally took all of January off – its not quite as dire as it used to be, but check if you have a regular solicitor you use to see if they will be available and if not who you should contact.

Banks can be even more problematical when trying to deal with, or indeed find, your usual mortgage manager. Even in the electronic age – a lot of detail never seems to make it to your file. If possible ask for a slightly longer settlement period to get your property professionals off the beach and into the office to help you build your  Australian property empire!