Australia’s Most Amenable Sellers?

Perth Skyline, Reflected in King Park Walkway, Australia

Some interesting stats out this week for those of you hoping to get a bargain from a desperate buyer. The latest RP Data figures compare average listing prices to actual settlement prices across Australia and makes for some interesting reading.

First, avoid Perth, that is if you are looking for a bargain. Perth owners appear to be making too much money from the resource boom and although listing times have blown out to 70 days the average difference between the listing price and the eventual selling price is under 5%. In addition the rate of foreclosures are lowest in Western Australia of all the states and can always put the house on the strong rental market if the price is not right.
Brisbane is your best bet. Brisbane home-owners are, on average, selling at a 7.9% discount to their listing price. Melbourne and Adelaide should also be fertile hunting grounds for keen negotiators with vendors accepting, a reduction of 7% on average.
It may however be simplest to assume that Perth buyers arent as desperate as the Eastern States. After all there are a record number of houses on the market. The figures may just reflect more realistic listing prices to elsewhere in Australia. Maybe Perth real estate agents do a better job at conditioning their clients to a realistic selling price than their colleagues in other states?

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics also highlighted Western Australia as the only state which had an increase in the number of new loans for owner-occupiers, Although modest the 2.3% increase was better than the slight decrease seen in all other states. However again maybe this just reflects the population increase in Western Australia as many immigrants from overseas and the east descend on Perth for well-paid jobs in the mining and related sectors?

So take all these statistics cynically - at the end of the day its your own bargaining skill and ability to walk away that will give you the best price.

Photo Credit: Australia Immigration