After seeing home prices across the country fall 9.1%, there are now signs that the housing downturn could be over.
According to CoreLogic, home prices rose 0.5% in April, posting the second consecutive monthly increase, following a 0.6% rise in March.
Sydney is leasing the rebound in property prices, increasing 1.3% in April with dwelling values rising each month since February. Sydney values are now 3.0% higher than the recent trough recorded in January.
Brisbane prices increased 0.3%, Melbourne 0.1%, Adelaide 0.2% and Perth 0.6%. While Darwin was the only capital city market to record a decline, falling -1.2% throughout the month.
Source: CoreLogic
CoreLogic’s Research Director, Tim Lawless said it is becoming increasingly clear the housing market has moved through an inflection point.
“Not only are we seeing housing values stabilising or rising across most areas of the country, a number of other indicators are confirming the positive shift,” Mr Lawless said.
“Auction clearance rates are holding slightly above the long run average, sentiment has lifted and home sales are trending around the previous five-year average.”
Mr Lawless said rising immigration has been behind the rebound in demand.
“A significant lift in net overseas migration has run headlong into a lack of housing supply,” he said.
“While overseas migration would normally have a more direct correlation with rental demand, with vacancy rates holding around 1% in most cities, it’s reasonable to assume more people are fast tracking a purchasing decision simply because they can’t find rental accommodation.
“Many prospective vendors have stayed on the sidelines through the downturn, keeping inventory at below average levels and providing sellers with some leverage at the negotiation table.”
He said although housing conditions are looking more positive, values across most regions remain well below their recent cyclical highs.
Hobart, where values are yet to improve, is now recording the largest drop from the recent market peak, down -13%. Sydney dwelling values had recorded a -13.8% drop from the market peak to recent trough, however a 3% rise in values over the past three months leaves the market -11.2% below the recent high. Brisbane has recorded the third largest decline, with values holding -10.7% below their recent peak.
One of the main factors propping up the housing market has been the tight level of stock.
Mr Lawless said with the flow of new listings holding lower than normal, total advertised inventory was tracking -21.8% below the previous five-year average for this time of the year.
Advertised supply was well below average across every capital city over the past month, apart from Hobart where listing numbers have been rising, albeit from a low base.
“The flow of new listings is highly seasonal, typically trending lower through winter before rising into spring and early summer,” Mr Lawless said.
“At the moment it looks like this seasonal trend is holding true, with the flow of new listings once again falling into winter. This will be an important trend to watch.
“As market conditions improve we could see prospective vendors becoming more willing to test the market and beat the spring rush when competition among vendors is likely to be more apparent.”
CoreLogic’s rental index recorded a further 1.1% rise across the combined capital cities in April, while regional rents were up a smaller 0.5%.
According to Mr Lawless, there are several factors contributing to the higher growth rates across the unit sector which has been surgeon compared to houses.
“It’s likely rental affordability is playing a role; in early 2022 unit rents were around $70 a week cheaper than house rents, however, with unit rents rising much faster than house rents, that gap has narrowed to just $20 a week in April,” he said.
“There is also the additional rental demand from overseas migration, especially students, which tends to be more pronounced in inner city areas as well as precincts close to universities and transport hubs that are typically associated with higher density styles of rental accommodation.
“Another factor playing out is a lack of new unit supply. Medium to high density dwelling approvals have mostly held below average since 2018, setting the scene for a chronic undersupply across the medium to high density sector a few years from now.”
Mr Lawless said it looks like the Australian housing market has moved through what has been a relatively short but sharp downturn.
“Typically, we wouldn’t see housing values start a new growth cycle until monetary policy started to ease, credit policies loosened or some level of fiscal support was introduced. The shift towards more positive conditions has come about in the absence of these factors,” Mr Lawless said.
“The key drivers of this positive inflection seem to be the larger than expected rise in net overseas migration which has created additional housing demand at a time of extremely tight rental conditions and well below average levels of advertised supply.”
He said while the bottom of the downturn looks quite convincing, we aren’t expecting housing values to rise materially until interest rates reduce, credit policies ease or housing focused stimulus is introduced, or potentially a combination of these factors.
“This scenario, where interest rates fell and credit policy eased, was exactly what occurred in June/July of 2019 following the Federal election; a drop in interest rates that was shortly followed by an easing in APRA’s serviceability assessment rules,” he said.
“This saw housing values trend higher before being interrupted by the onset of the global pandemic.”
Automation has become an incredibly important tool that is helping not just the real estate industry, but all types of businesses.
While many agents assume they have a lead generation problem, in reality, they more often than not have a lead nurturing problem as they are simply unable to keep up with all the potential leads that come to them through their network.
A study by Marketo found that businesses that used automation to nurture prospects saw a 451% increase in qualified leads.
This shows just how powerful automation can be in your everyday processes.
One of the main benefits of automating your lead nurturing process is that it allows you to provide a personalised experience for your potential clients, without needing to put in the manual hours that you’ve had to in the past.
With the use of a CRM, you can schedule emails and other communications ahead of time and set up workflows to reach out to customers on autopilot. This allows your CRM to do the heavy lifting of the lead nurturing for you, saving time and resources for your entire team.
Today's consumers need numerous touchpoints before they are likely to become a client. According to research by the Sales Lead Management Association, leads need at least 5 to 8 touchpoints before they are ready to buy. This means that businesses need to invest in a lead nurturing process to keep their brand top of mind with potential clients. In real estate, this can be even longer, given the fact that homeowners typically hold onto their properties for around seven years. Automation can make this slower cycle far easier and more efficient.
Automated lead nurturing can be used to add value at each touchpoint. For example, you could send a welcome email to new leads with helpful resources related to real estate. This might be an offer for information on prices or recent sales in their suburb. Or, you could set up a series of emails that introduce your agency and its services to new leads. You could also set up automated follow-up emails to remind would-be vendors of what is happening in their location regarding the market and also, encourage them to take the next step in the process by getting an appraisal.
By the time you need to speak with a lead in person, you have already done the hard work of building that relationship, which then makes it far easier to pitch your services at a listing presentation. Discover 5 proven ways to build trusting relationships with your clients in this blog.
Another benefit of automation is that it allows you to track and analyse your lead nurturing process. With a CRM system like VaultRE or Eagle Software, you can see which emails and communications are working and which ones are not. This allows you to adjust your approach and improve your conversion rates over time. It then simply becomes a matter of improving your process of time, while reaping the benefits of having the lead nurture process running on autopilot. If your CRM doesn't have automation capabilities, it may be holding you back significantly.
The real estate sales cycle is often slower than other industries and the work you do today, might not pay off for many months or even years. The more automation that you can incorporate into your lead nurture process, the more reach you're going to be able to have, allowing you to be more consistent in your ongoing efforts.
The turnaround in home prices has continued with the latest data from CoreLogic showing a 0.6% uptick over the month of March.
Once again, the larger capital cities have led the turnaround, with Sydney recording a 1.4% jump in values. Melbourne was also higher, increasing 0.6% while Perth (0.5%) and Brisbane (0.1%) were the only other capital city markets to record a rise.
The smaller cities all struggled last month with Hobart recording a 0.9% decline in prices, while Canberra dropped 0.5% and Darwin 0.4%.
CoreLogic’s Research Director, Tim Lawless, said the rise was due to a combination of low advertised stock levels, extremely tight rental conditions and unprecedented demand from overseas migrants.
“Although interest rates are high and there is an expectation the economy will slow through the year, it’s clear other factors are now placing upwards pressure on home prices,” Mr Lawless said.
“Advertised supply has been below average since September last year, with capital city listing numbers ending March almost -20% below the previous five-year average. Purchasing activity has also fallen but not as much as available supply; capital city sales activity was estimated to be roughly -7% below the previous five-year average through the March quarter.”
Source: CoreLogic
Mr Lawless said the rental crisis was now also starting to push would-be renters to buy which was putting upward pressure on prices.
“With rental markets this tight, it’s likely we are seeing some spillover from renting into purchasing, although, with mortgage rates so high, not everyone who wants to buy will be able to qualify for a loan. Similarly, with net overseas migration at record levels and rising, there is a chance more permanent or long-term migrants who can afford to, will skip the rental phase and fast track a home purchase simply because they can’t find rental accommodation.”
Mr Lawless said the lift in housing values has been most evident across the upper quartile of Sydney’s housing market, which were up 2% in March and the upper quartile of the Sydney unit market was 1.4% higher over the month.
“Sydney upper quartile house values fell by -17.4% from their peak in January 2022 to a recent low in January 2023, the largest drop from the market peak of any capital city market segment,” he said.
“We may be seeing some opportunistic buyers coming back into the market where prices have fallen the most.”
According to the data, regional housing markets have mostly shown firmer housing conditions as well, with the combined regionals index rising 0.2% over the month.
Housing values across Regional WA and Regional SA remain at cyclical highs despite 10 rate hikes. SA’s Fleurieu-Kangaroo Island SA3 sub-region led capital gains over the month with a 2.6% rise in dwelling values followed by Dubbo, NSW (2.5%), Wellington, Victoria (2.4%) and Mid West, WA (2.1%).
Housing values across every capital city and broad rest-of-state region remain higher compared to March 2020. Melbourne values are the closest to pre-COVID levels, with only a 0.6% buffer (up from a 0.03% buffer a month ago). At the other extreme is Adelaide where housing values remain a stunning 41.2% above the levels recorded at the onset of COVID, and Regional SA where values remain at a record high, 49.2% above March 2020 levels.
The flow of new listings has held at below-average levels since September last year, while the five largest capitals are also recording a total listing count lower than this time last year.
New listings are likely to trend lower in the cooler months, Mr Lawless said, which is normal for this time of the year, before ramping up into spring.
“Given that new listing counts have trended below average since spring last year, it’s reasonable to assume there is some pent-up supply that has accumulated behind the scenes. Whether the flow of new listings starts to pick up with improved housing confidence will be a trend to watch,” Mr Lawless said.
Meanwhile, rents across all areas of the country continue to move higher. Capital city house rents are up 24.8% since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, while unit rents are up a smaller 19.5%, although they are quickly catching up.
“As rental affordability becomes more pressing we are likely to see group households reforming, reversing the trend towards smaller households seen through the pandemic,” Mr Lawless said.
“Additionally, tenants are likely to be maximising their tenancy, sacrificing the spare room or home office to spread rental costs across a larger number of tenants.
“CoreLogic data has also shown a continued lift in rental hold periods, suggesting tenants may have a preference for holding onto their existing lease, rather than braving the search for a new rental.”
Notably, rents fell for Darwin houses (-1.5%) and units (-0.4%) as well as ACT houses (-1.3%) over the past three months. After historically being one of the most expensive rental markets in the country, the quarterly decline now has Canberra recording an annual reduction in house rents, down -0.8% over the past 12 months.
Mr Lawless said, although the recent trend in housing markets is looking increasingly positive, he is still cautious about calling a trough in the cycle.
He said there are still a number of headwinds for property owners to contend with including the full impact of higher interest rates is yet to flow through to borrowers as well as the looming fixed interest rate cliff that will see hundreds of thousands of fixed rate loans roll off to much higher variable rates. Also, credit conditions remain tight while sentiment is still weak at the moment.
However, with inflation winding down and the unprecedented level of immigration that is taking place, there is reason to think that prices might stabilise going forward.
Property prices bounced back in February, however, there could be more downside ahead according to experts.
The latest data from CoreLogic showed property prices experienced the smallest monthly fall since May 2022, with national property prices down only 0.14% in February.
Sydney lead the rebound with a 0.3% increase in median price, however, all other capital cities recorded falling values, with Hobart suffering the most significant drop, tumbling 1.4%. Melbourne and Brisbane both declined 0.4%, Canberra was down 0.5%, Darwin 0.4%, Adelaide 0.2% and Perth 0.1%.
CoreLogic’s research director, Tim Lawless, said the stabilisation in housing values over the month was helped by consistently low advertised supply levels and a rise in auction clearance rates.
"The February housing market performance suggested some renewed strength in market conditions, while the flow of new listings has been at below-average levels since September last year, which has helped to support a reduction in the pace of value falls," Mr Lawless said.
"But, it’s probably too early to call a trough in the cycle considering there are several factors which could trigger a ‘re-acceleration’ of housing value declines over the course of the year."
Mr Lawless said the past four weeks saw the flow of new capital city listings track 17.0% lower than a year ago and 11.9% below the previous five-year average, which has been a trend that has been occurring since September last year.
Auction clearance rates also bounced back last month, reaching the high 60% range through the second half of the month, while Sydney clearance rates rose to above 70% for the first time since February 2022.
The upper end of the market in the capital cities drove this month’s stabilising trend, increasing by 0.1% in February. While still falling, declines across the lower end of the market also stabilised, down 0.1%.
Over the month, there was a seasonal rise in weekly listing volumes, with roughly 11,250 more new listings advertised compared to January, bringing the number of new listings to 38,118.
Despite the jump, this is still 12.6% below the previous five-year average for this time of year, and the total volume of listings counted nationally was approximately 143,500, which is 26.3% lower than the previous five-year average.
Against relatively low advertised stock levels, the estimated volume of sales recorded a strong seasonal bounce back in February.
Mr Lawless said while the monthly volume of sales is subject to revision, this lift in sales backs up the theory that purchasing demand may have been stronger than supply throughout the month.
Source: CoreLogic
According to Mr Lawless the highest rental growth is now occurring in the unit sector across the three largest capitals, with Sydney unit rents jumping 16.7% over the past year.
According to Mr Lawless, rising immigration has been a major reason behind the rise in rents and plunging rental vacancy rates.
"Several factors may be contributing to the surge in unit rents, including rental affordability pressures, a transition of demand towards higher density rental options, and a strong rebound in foreign student and international migrant arrivals, particularly in inner city precincts and areas within close proximity to universities and transport hubs,” he said.
Mr Lawless warned that despite the recent trend towards stabilisation, housing risks remain skewed to the downside.
He said that it is too early to call a trough in the cycle as several factors could trigger a ‘re-acceleration’ of housing value declines over the course of the year, including the expected rate hikes, a further decline in borrowing capacity, and challenges to serviceability due to an ongoing increase in interest rates, rising unemployment, and a higher cost of living.
"On the back of the latest increase in the cash rate, there are still more rate hikes expected over the course of the year, and a further decline in borrowing capacity is on the cards, which could reaccelerate housing market declines," he said.
"Low advertised stock levels are likely to persist as homeowners resist selling in a declining market.
“However, there may be a small portion of prospective vendors who become more motivated or are forced to sell amid growing challenges to serviceability."
Mr Lawless said longer term, the market is poised for recovery and despite the headwinds accumulating for the housing market in 2023, there is no denying the fundamental under-supply of housing stock.
If you are going to reach the elite level in real estate, you're going to need systems in place that will allow you to leverage every part of your job. If there are any weak links in the chain, it's very likely that you are not going to be performing as well as you could be.
Technology within the real estate industry is growing at a rapid rate. Find out how PropTech has revolutionised the real estate industry here.
An outdated CRM is a common way that many real estate agents could be getting held back, without realising it. Here are just a few of the ways that your current CRM might be slowing you down.
If your current CRM isn't intuitive, or lacks automation features, you're likely spending more time than you need to on simple administrative tasks. For example, if you are manually inputting client data or sorting through leads, you're wasting valuable time that could be spent building relationships, prospecting, and ultimately securing new listings. Your CRM should be doing the heavy lifting for you when it comes to tedious, bulky tasks. A CRM isn't designed to replace agents, but to give them more time in their day to focus on human tasks and building connections in the field.
A quality CRM should serve you, not frustrate you. Outdated CRMs can be clunky, and take more time to load or save data than it might to do things manually. This is a huge red flag when it comes to your CRM. If you are constantly frustrated at your tech because it's not working properly, and you're spending more time on the phone to support teams than you are actually working, then it's time to consider a new CRM.
If your CRM isn't automating tasks like follow-up emails or lead scoring, you're missing out on valuable opportunities. Automating these tasks not only saves you time but also ensures that you're being proactive in your approach.
You can configure your CRM to follow up with leads, or to trigger a series of automated emails that will help you to nurture leads over time. Using automation helps to create a proactive approach, and can make all the difference in the world when it comes to closing deals and will allow you to reach more people than ever before.
If you're using an older CRM, it may not be able to keep up with your growing business needs. As you add more clients and leads to your database, your CRM needs to be able to handle that growth. An outdated or low quality CRM may not have the capacity to handle larger volumes of data, or it may not be able to integrate with the newer tools and technologies that can help you grow your business. This could limit your ability to take on new clients or expand your business.
Take note of how often your CRM is issuing updates and bug fixes. Perhaps your CRM was best-in-business five years ago, but has not made any changes since that time. The tech industry changes quickly, as do the needs of real estate agents. In order for you to grow, it's important that your CRM provider also sees growth and innovation as a priority.
There are a number of important factors to consider when it comes to picking the right CRM, including functionality, customisability, and the ability to integrate with the rest of your technology stack. One factor that real estate agents often neglect is the customer support. If you're having issues with your CRM, you need to know that you can easily get the help that you need, when you need it. Having access to helpful staff in a timely manner is invaluable when it comes to the technology that runs the back end of your business. Look for a CRM provider that offers comprehensive customer support, including phone and email support, and bonus points for online tutorials, and a user community that can help answer your questions.
Finding the right CRM for your needs will not only help your business flourish, but can also help you cut costs by removing cluttered technology that no longer serves you.
When you’re trying to find the right CRM for your business, start by evaluating your current needs. What are the problems you're having with your current CRM? What features would you like to see in a new CRM?
Once you have a clear idea of what you're looking for, start researching your options. There are a lot of CRM providers out there, so it's important to do your due diligence. Look for providers that offer free trials or demos so you can test out the product before committing.
It's also important to remember that your needs will change over time. What worked for you a few years ago may not work for you now. It's a good idea to reevaluate your CRM needs every few years to make sure you're still using the best product for your business. Don't be afraid to switch providers if you find that your current CRM isn't meeting your needs anymore.
An outdated CRM can hold you back in a number of ways and ultimately hurt your bottom line. By finding a CRM that suits you and your needs, you can free up your time and focus on what really matters – building relationships and generating listings.
Technology is continuing to change the way we do things in all industries and real estate is no exception, with more new tools at our disposal than ever before.
In years gone by, agents and property managers might have been concerned about losing their jobs to technology. However, as the industry evolves it’s becoming more clear that real-life interactions with people aren’t going anywhere, and that technology can never replace real estate agents. Rather, technology exists to assist agents and make them more productive and better at their jobs.
If you’re thinking about ways to improve your agency or business, here are three reasons why now might be the perfect time to invest in technology.
On any given day, an agent's attention is typically pulled in many different directions. You have to speak with leads, manage negotiations, complete the back office work, talk to buyers, plan marketing campaigns and attend open homes. The list goes on.
With so many high priority tasks needing to be done urgently, you will find that time in the day quickly escapes you.
Technology offers a means to become more efficient and maximise the limited time that real estate agents have. In order to succeed, agents need to be looking at ways they are able to remove themselves from the day-to-day runnings of their business, so they can focus on the top revenue-generating activities. To do this they must remove themselves from mundane, repetitive tasks that can be allocated to someone else, or automated by technology.
Implementing quality technology within the office not only creates efficiencies within your operations, but also within your budget. By adapting tech that helps your businesses day to day functions run smoother, you'll also be able to eliminate functions that no longer serve your business and cut costs. Discover further cost cutting tips that every real estate agent should know by reading this blog.
Creating every efficiencies is how an agency or an agent can regain their time and take their business to the next level. Start by firing yourself, and incorporating technology to remove yourself from repetitive work.
Everyone wants a piece of you as an agent and when a vendor or buyer gets in contact, they invariably want everything right away. This is to be expected as real estate is ultimately a sales and marketing job and dealing with people is a large portion of what you do.
Problems usually start occurring when an agent has grown his business to such a point that they can no longer keep up by themselves. It’s only then that they start falling away in certain areas. One of the first areas to slip is response time. A sign that you may be scaling too quickly and need extra support is that you don’t get back to people and your level of customer service begins to decrease.
Adopting great technology is one of many ways you can continue to give high-quality service and spread your time further. Being able to reach people by text message or email, as well as storing details in your CRM will immediately improve your ability to handle customer service, and better understand your customers. There are also ever-improving tools like chatbots that act as an assistant of sorts that can help direct enquiries.
The ways technology can improve your business are unlimited. These days, there’s no excuse for poor customer service as any bottlenecks that you’re personally facing can usually be solved with better processes, more team members and better use of technology.
When we break down our week, no matter how smart or hard we work we always run into the same barrier in the end which is our time. After all, there is only a finite amount of time in each day.
If you’re working by yourself and selling your time for money, you will eventually hit a plateau with your earnings and also put yourself at a higher risk of burning out. That’s when we need to find ways to better leverage our time.
Technology is a great resource and with the potential to make a significant impact on the way we spend our time, allowing us to more effectively leverage the free time we do have.
A great example is the power of a quality CRM. Great real estate CRMs are custom built for the industry and tailored to suit your exact needs. Previously, real estate agents were limited by the number of leads they could contact in a day. With advancements in technology, and Prop Tech specially, agents can acquire and nurture more leads than ever before.
Utilising real estate technology allows you to do a lot more with your time, reach more people and ultimately scale your business. If you can’t scale your current operations, your business has a ceiling and is limited within its growth.
If you’re looking to move into the upper echelon of top-performing agents, then finding ways to scale your operations is essential.
Property prices have been weakening in most markets around the country, however, the rate of decline is now starting to slow.
According to CoreLogic, property prices fell 1% in January, slightly less than the 1.1% fall in December.
Every capital city posted a decline in property values through the month of January, led by Hobart (-1.7%) and Brisbane (-1.4%), while the smallest drops were recorded in Perth (-0.3%) and Darwin (-0.1%).
The most noticeable falls have been seen across the premium end of the housing market, where the country’s most expensive properties have led both the recent upswing as well as the current downturn.
Sydney’s median home price value below $1 million for the first time since March 2021, falling -1.2% in January, an improvement on December’s -1.4% decline.
Since their respective peaks, Sydney (-13.8%), Brisbane (-10.8% ) and Hobart (-10.8%) have so far registered the largest declines which are at or near record levels.
Source: CoreLogic
CoreLogic Research Director, Tim Lawless said the record declines in home values followed a record upswing, both in magnitude and speed.
“The national home value index was up a stunning 28.6% in the space of just 19 months,” Mr Lawless said.
“Despite the recent sharp drop in values, every capital city and rest-of-state region is still recording home values above pre-pandemic levels, although Melbourne’s index would only need to fall a further -0.4% before equaling the March 2020 reading.”
Regional housing values also continued to record a milder decline than their capital city counterparts, falling 0.8% last month.
Mr Lawless said regional areas have performed better than the city throughout the last housing cycle.
“Despite easing rates of internal migration and a partial erosion of the pre-pandemic affordability advantage, regional housing values are holding up better than capital city markets,” he said.
"This will be an interesting trend to watch over the longer term, but at the moment it seems regional housing markets have seen a structural shift in the underlying demand profile.
“With more Australians willing to base themselves outside of the capital cities and remote working remaining a viable option across some sectors of the labour force, it’s unlikely we’ll see a mass exodus from regional markets.”
Capital city dwelling sales over the past three months were -29.4% lower compared to the same period in 2022 and -11.5% below the previous five-year average.
Sydney (-40.6%), Melbourne (-39.8%) and Brisbane (-36.5%) have had the largest quarterly drop in sales relative to the same period last year.
Mr Lawless said it’s unlikely listing and purchasing activity will return to average levels until consumer sentiment starts to improve.
“There is a strong relationship between consumer attitudes and the number of homes sales,” he said.
“With sentiment remaining around recessionary lows, it’s harder for consumers to make high commitment decisions such as buying or selling a home.
“Until Australians have a higher level of confidence with regards to their household finances and the outlook for the economy, it's likely they will continue to delay major financial decisions.”
Rental growth picked up again in January as record-low vacancy rates and the surge in overseas migrants continues to put rental markets under extreme pressure.
Mr Lawless said tenants are now chasing more affordable options.
“After recording substantially larger increases through the worst of the pandemic, the rate of growth in house rents is generally easing in most regions, reflecting a transition of demand towards more affordable, higher density types of rental stock,” he said.
“In contrast, unit rents have seen a surge in rental growth over the past year.
“This can be attributed to a combination of affordability pressures driving more rental demand towards cheaper rental options, and a possible reversal in rental preferences as tenants once again seek out housing options closer to centres of amenity such as the CBD and transport hubs.”
Once interest rates move through a peak, it’s likely that housing values will stabilise.
Mr Lawless said there may be a few months’ lag before declines flatten out, and the market would need some form of stimulus before a new growth cycle commenced.
There’s also some downside risk from the large number of fixed-rate mortgages due to expire later this year.
He said two-thirds of fixed-rate home loans, which comprise a substantially larger portion of the loan book than historically normal, will expire in 2023, with many moving from interest rates around 2% to a rate closer to 6%.
“It’s likely mortgage arrears will rise from last year’s record lows, but the risk of a material increase in mortgage arrears or defaults should be minimised as long as labour markets remain tight,” Mr Lawless said.
“Although labour markets are expected to loosen throughout 2023, it’s unlikely the unemployment rate will rise above long-term average levels.”
Finally, low stock levels will also be a factor that helps keep price falls contained Mr Lawless said.
“Such low advertised supply has arguably helped to keep a lid on value declines, but a lift in supply without a commensurate rise in demand could prolong the downturn,” he said.
Learn how adding digital inspections to your marketing campaign can elevate your sales strategy and open up new markets in this educational on-demand webinar.
With everyone expected to access property digitally this decade and 57% of consumers wanting to be able to purchase a property using a hybrid approach, now is the time to evolve your marketing strategy so you don’t get left behind.
1 in 3 Australians are digitally inspecting properties from interstate. Having a sight unseen strategy in place is what sets the high performing agents apart from the crowd. Virtual Tours are the only asset that can open up your listings to every prospect so they can digitally inspect anywhere, anytime.
This on-demand webinar is perfect for principals, sales agents, property managers or marketing managers who are wanting to learn how digital inspections can extend your marketing reach.
Discover how Little Hinges Virtual Tours can benefit your business.
A new year opens up new opportunities. At the end of last year, the real estate industry saw a downturn, illustrating the importance of planning and knowing your position. Have you invested the time to set your goals for 2023? Do you have a clear understanding of what direction you want to take?
Discover expert business planning tips from Andrew Friebe, Founder and CEO of Re-Engage Consulting. Andrew is an experienced leader in the real estate industry with specialist skills in management, leadership, growth and extensive sales experience. In this on-demand webinar, Andrew discusses the 5 key areas that business owners and top agents need to focus on in order to achieve their goals, grow their business and boost revenue.
This on-demand webinar is perfect for top sales agents looking to launch your own business in 2023, and principals or business owners who want to learn how to grow your real estate business, revenue and profit.
*Please note that the Q&A included in this on-demand webinar is not functional for on-demand viewers.
Recently PropTech Group partnered with Andrew Friebe, Founder and CEO of Re-Engage Consulting, to offer consulting services. Andrew has worked with hundreds of real estate agencies across Australia and New Zealand to help them to get the most out of their agency.
Want to learn more about our consultancy services? Please contact our team for more information.
With a lower volume of transactions and the general property market continuing to cool down compared to the heights of last year, now is the perfect time to take a closer look at your business expenses and find ways to cut your costs.
For real estate agents, there are a number of business expenses that are vital, not only to continue doing your job well, but to also save time which is equally important. The key to cost cutting is to first identify what your main costs are, and then try to improve or consolidate where you can or cut them out altogether.
Here are some key areas to focus on when cutting costs.
There’s no doubt that technology has dramatically changed the game for most real estate agents over the past few decades. In todays market, technology tools can help make you more efficient as an agent, save you time and broaden your reach further than ever before.
In the PropTech era in which we find ourselves, new technology is evolving faster than ever before and new products are being released on a frequent basis. For agency's it’s important to continually assess the tools that you’re using to make sure you’re getting the most out of them and really maximising your technology stack.
The first step is to check that you’re not doubling up on technology. Many tools can do multiple functions and it’s important to make sure that you’re not paying for the same service twice.
Secondly, all of your systems should be well-integrated. You can easily pay for more tools than you might not otherwise need, simply because your current stack doesn’t integrate well. In many cases, you can find one great piece of software such as VaultRE, or Eagle Software, that can handle all of your needs at a more cost-effective price than paying for a number of different services that don't together in a cohesive way.
By selecting a comprehensive CRM as your starting point, you’ll have the benefit of saving time as you avoid integration issues and data loss across platforms. For a full guide on auditing your tech stack, check out our comprehensive article here.
Finally, you need to identify the best value for money. Oftentimes, platforms have different levels that will offer different features depending on your requirements. You might not need all the tools a platform has to offer, so you shouldn’t have to pay for them.
Automation is one of the seven essential features of any real estate CRM.
If you can save time, you will save money. That applies to a range of different areas of your business, so you should always be on the lookout for more effective ways of doing things and ways you can automate tasks.
If there is the option of replacing a tedious task that is done by a human, with technology, then that is a great starting point to save significant costs and the hassles that go with hiring and managing employees. However, the real estate industry includes a number of roles that thrive with the human touch, so it then becomes important to create ways to help your employees to become more efficient in their day to day tasks.
If you’re trying to cut down on costs, nothing beats great planning. The better you plan your overall business from the top down, the more effective and cost-efficient you can be.
That starts with your overall business plan and goals, down to the way you plan your day. You should be regularly doing planning sessions where you set both high-level long-term goals and short-term goals and work out how you’re going to achieve them. Learn you can effectively plan ahead and create realistic goals for yourself and your agency by reading our recent planning article.
Detailed planning and strategising makes you more goal focussed and efficient as a business and in the process will save you and your business both time and money.
