Property Residential Property market

Property stock levels masked by off-market

deals

Nila Sweeney Reporter

Apr 28, 2020 – 3.59pm Save Share

The amount of housing stock effectively in the market could be substantially

higher than advertised online due to the surging number of unlisted homes offered
for sale, buyer's agents say.

Melbourne-based buyer's agent Cate Bakos said since March, her buying agency
had seen the amount of off-market properties jump by about 50 per cent as more
vendors refuse to pay thousands of dollars to list online amid a weakening market.

Buyer's agents said the number of properties being sold off-market has climbed by around 50 pc since
March. Pat Scala

"It's gone through the roof," she said. "There's a substantial amount of property
being offered for sale that is not listed online. My best guess is, it accounts for at
least 50 per cent of properties.

"Vendors are reluctant to spend money to list online at the moment because it's
quite expensive and they're not seeing the value in it due to the restrictions and
weaker market."

In Brisbane, buyer's agent Zoran Solano, of Hot Property Buyer's Agency, said he
was also seeing a large jump in off-market deals.
"I would say good agents will have about 50 per cent of their stock being sold off
market at the moment. Usually they only have 20 per cent," he said.

Sydney-based buyer's agent Lauren Goudy, of Rose & Jones, said the agency has
recorded about a 45 per cent increase in off-market properties added to its
database since the onset of COVID-19.

"Vendors are opting to sell off market because it gives them discretion and
anonymity, especially if they are forced to sell," she said.

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Sydney buyer's agent Amanda Gould, of Highspec Property, said up to 35 per cent
of properties being sold in the area she operates in were not listed on Domain or
Realestate.com.au.

"Off-market properties have risen right across the city, in the east, north, inner
west and the northern beaches, and in all price points," she said.

"A lot of sellers just want a quick sale and they don't want to pay for marketing and
risk having a campaign fail."

But due to the nature of off-market transactions, there were no readily available
data to accurately gauge the volume of properties changing hands privately.

"From a data perspective, we don’t have any visibility of how many homes are being
advertised off market. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more vendors opting
to sell their property without a traditional advertising campaign," said CoreLogic's
research director Tim Lawless.
"With selling conditions becoming more challenging, there is a likelihood that
homes will sit on the market for longer. Homes with a long time on market can
attract low-ball offers and make it harder to negotiate the best possible price."

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An off-market campaign probably also points to less willingness from vendors to

commit to selling their home at a time when selling conditions were tough, said Mr
Lawless.

"A behind the scenes campaign based on firm pricing expectations, together with a
well-connected real estate agent, is a legitimate way to avoid vultures and tyre
kickers, as well as protecting any future sales campaigns from an unsuccessful
listing history," he said.

So far, CoreLogic has recorded a significant increase in new listings over the past 28
days to April 19.

Sydney added 4548 new listings, Melbourne increased by 4980 homes and
Brisbane expanded by 2956.

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Nila Sweeney writes on property from our Sydney newsroom. Email Nila at
nila.sweeney@afr.com.au

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