The Importance of Preparation – Increasing Your Success Factors.

The importance of preparation – increasing your success factors

The importance of being prepared in your property journey is a key factor in a successful buying process. We’ve seen how being prepared, or not prepared enough, can work for and against people time and time again. In the last seven days alone we sold over nine properties, and we want to make sure you don’t miss out in a market where people are transacting at lightening speed.
 

In pre-pandemic times, home-buying hopefuls could expect fast turnarounds from their financial institutions – some within a week to get their application moving. In today’s market, buyer numbers are high, alongside a steady stream of first-time buyers and huge numbers of refinancing requests. Processing timeframes are inevitably longer, and application assessments are being considered more thoroughly to reduce risk. On average, an unconditional approval is now taking approximately three weeks, and cooling off periods are extending to ten days in some instances.
 

We recommend getting your finances in order as soon as you know you’re serious about buying, and reduce your chances of missing out on a property you want by being less prepared than the next buyer in line.
 

Banks and lenders aren’t the only ones that are busy. Solicitors are also being inundated and I suggest a quick discussion with your solicitor before you make any offers. By ensuring they’re in a position to act on your behalf within 24 hours is a small but thoughtful move that will support your buying process exponentially.
 

Preparation and communication are the two components enabling seamless and speedy exchanges from offer to acceptance within a matter of days, and in the frequent multiple-buyer situations we’ve seen over the last month, this is particularly important.
 

This month, we reflect on high clearance rates, low interest rates and a fairly stabilised market which still remains higher than last year’s.

Auctions

The number of Sydney auctions has been trending higher over the past three months, and auction volumes have remained consistently above last year’s level since the last week of June. This week, Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rates are sitting at 71%, a clear indication that what is on the market is being sold, with a pull from strong buyer demand and continued supply.
 

COVID impact on the market as at August

Sydney’s property market continues to fare well with very modest declines in dwelling values - down 0.9% over the month of July. At a less than 1% shift, this figure still brings housing values a steady 12.1% higher than they were a year ago.

This is strong evidence of the market’s stability and economic resilience, as well as the longer term trajectory which indicates that the real estate market continues to trend upward.
 

Interest rates

Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) August Board Meeting contain no surprises. The Board confirmed that it won’t rule out adjusting current interest rates even further if circumstances warranted, confirming that the 0.25% rate - which has held up for the fifth consecutive month this year - is here to stay for a while.
 

Finance

The latest RBA figures show housing credit has inched slightly with a 0.2% increase driven by owner-occupier lending. ABS statistics have also revealed the amount of refinancing currently taking place, increasing 63% compared to last year, with a current 43% of mortgage holders looking to refinance in light of COVID-19 and record low rates.

It may have taken a pandemic to prompt people to consider the positive impact of being more budget-conscious and less complacent towards their mortgages, and with huge cash back offers, fixed rate flexibility, and rock-bottom rates on offer, we think homeowners are showing their savviness.
 

Buyer sentiment

Some interesting findings have been captured in ING bank’s latest released a report Homeownership - How COVID-19 has revived and re-defined the Australian dream.  Conducted in June, the study reveals that 46% of Australian homebuyers believe the COVID pandemic has made home ownership more achievable for them, with a third stating they’ll purchase home in the next one to two years.

From our high clearance rates and reduced days on the market, we know that those with financial stability are taking full advantage of the current environment, and statistics like this simply reinforce the views and goals of buyers who remain in the market are progressing at full steam ahead.