Brighter Buying

Should you buy now or wait for a price drop?

by Kate Watt, Marketing Manager 19 September 2019

This is the question many wanna-be home buyers are facing. Should you buy now before prices go up? Or wait for that much-hyped-but-yet-to-eventuate-recession to smash prices down?

Well let’s take a look at some key property market indicators courtesy of economist Jason Murphy’s column in news.com.au.
We caution that broad brush observations must be considered with local insights – your suburb is likely to be doing something completely different to somewhere else in Australia!
But as a general observation, here lies the case for, and against, a price rise:

Reasons prices will rise:

  1. Auction clearance rates are relatively high
  2. Housing stock volumes remain relatively low
  3. Prices are increasing as a result

Reasons prices will drop:

  1. Australia’s economic growth is slow
  2. Household debt remains high
  3. Wages growth is struggling to out-pace inflation

So which way will prices go? The balance of supply and demand throughout the spring selling season will hold the answer, and specifically the next few weeks are crucial, Murphy says.
“If homeowners want to sell in Spring, they need to be getting their skates on now. It takes time to get a house ready for sale. Whether enough vendors are doing so may well determine if house prices go up or down for the rest of the year,” he said.
Think the time is right to make your next move? View our current listings for sale or talk to us about selling.