Never been a better time to sell

THERE has never been a better time to list your house for sale given available stock is down by over 40 per cent in some parts of Brisbane and yet buyer enquiry has never been so high.

This weekend the leading property group Ray White will host more than 650 open homes across Brisbane on behalf of their owners on Saturday. The properties are showcased in The Courier Mail’s bumper 168 page gloss real estate magazine.

Ray White Queensland CEO Tony Warland said that right now the group was selling more than its listing, a scene being played out in almost every market of its network throughout the pandemic period.

“Our stock is down by over 40 per cent in some suburbs. That’s never happened in the 118 year history of Ray White but none of us has ever lived through a health pandemic before either. It’s an unusual time for us all,” Mr Warland said.

“Overall stock levels are down by 21 per cent on this time last year. Ray White Queensland is exceptionally proud to still have more than 5500 properties for sale on behalf of their property owners. This is excluding rural, industrial and commercial properties.

“Our offices are trading and we are conducting all our auctions and opens in a safe way with COVID Safe protocols in place.

“The data from the portals and from our own website raywhite.com shows the digital traffic has never been higher, so there’s a lot of people looking to buy which is a great landscape for our sellers.”

Buyer demand is high though which means the balance is firmly tipped in favour of sellers right now on the property clock. Data shows online traffic across the Ray White network of sites is in fact as its highest point ever. This includes traffic from raywhite.com, raywhite.co.nz, raywhitecommercial.com, raywhitegroup.com, raywhitebusinesssales.com, the office site network, and the agent site network.

One of the most successful real estate agents in the state, Dwight Ferguson, who owns Ray White Ascot, is so convinced now is the best time to list that he’s just placed his own home at 19 Kitchener Rd, Ascot on the market. Tomorrow will be his first open home.

“I have never seen so much buyer enquiry than I have right now. All the signs are there as stock is so critically low which means the supply demand balance is tipped in favour of vendors right now,” Mr Ferguson said.

“The amount of motivated buyers that my office has seen has encouraged my wife Tonja and I to sell. There’s a lot of confidence in the market. I feel a good feeling with listings being so low, there’s a distinct lack of competition.”

“My office has just sold 10 properties in seven days and enquiry levels are through the roof. We had 140 groups through our open homes last Saturday alone, that’s better than pre-COVID normal.”

The Fergusons, with daughters Annabel, 16 and Holly 9, undertook a major renovation of their home when they bought it six years ago.

“We did the whole lot, no expense was spared. It was like an open wallet situation as it was our forever home but we are very motivated sellers now.”

On a sprawling 1118sqm allotment at 19 Kitchener Road, Ascot with an expansive 37.1m frontage this classic Ascot residence presents a luxurious lifestyle.

The resort-style home has a full-size tennis court, glass-framed swimming pool, Wyer + Craw cabinetry and a suite of technological inclusions. The property goes to auction on June 20 at 1030am, online and on-site at Ray White Ascot.

Ray White’s property inspection protocols are set in place to keep all homebuyers safe while at open homes, with hand sanitiser available, all doors and cupboards open to avoid contact and social distancing guidelines in place.

Mr Warland said that naturally buying a home or investment property was a big decision and sometimes involves the sale of another property.

“Now really is a great time to talk to us if you also have a property to sell.”