Agent says sales during school holidays should be treated on case by case basis

THERE is often debate about the best time of year to sell a property and it is widely thought people should avoid putting their property on the market during school holidays.

When it came to the holidays, Acton Dalkeith sales executive Martine Eyers said each sale should be treated on a case by case basis.

“In general, particularly for a family home, we would never choose to launch a property during the school holidays,” she said.

“July has become particularly difficult with some schools now introducing the three-week break as buyers can be away for the entire sales campaign.”

However, Mrs Eyers said she was comfortable launching homes that suited downsizers or investment properties during the holidays as the target market was still in Perth.

“The October holidays with the Royal Show can actually be a great time to launch a lock-and-leave as we find a lot of the farming community comes to Perth during this time and look for a city pad,” she said.

In the South-West the school holidays see an influx of potential buyers visiting the region, however Stocker Preston Dunsborough sales consultant Tony Farris said the seasons had a greater effect on the type of properties going to market rather than the holiday breaks.

“Winter brings the region’s acreage/|lifestyle property market to the fore as the warmth of the beachside market dissipates and prospective buyers head to the rolling hills from Yallingup to Margaret River or further down to Cape Leeuwin,” he said.

“It’s natural that buyers will turn their attention to this market from May until October, as the landscape is brimming with life, greenery and abundance of water flowing through the land.

“On the flipside, our magnificent coastal areas will generally be at the forefront of buyer enquiry from November to April due to the warmth of summer and the crystal clear waters of the Cape to Cape region.”

Mr Farris said these two markets provided a unique diversity across the South-West property scene, keeping buyer enquiry strong all year and giving sellers the opportunity to achieve a sale throughout the course of the year.

If a property particularly suited the lifestyle market Mr Farris said it was important not to come to the market too late in the season.

“Arriving on the market in mid-September only gives you a limited window of time before the landscape surrounds dry off with the late spring/early summer heat moving in and buyers head to the beach,” he said.

“Plus there maybe less competition for your property between July 1 and September 1 before the bulk of new spring listings arrive on the property market.”

Other factors, such as an election, can also have strong effect on the market.

“Traditionally we find buyers like certainty, so we normally find as soon as an election is called, buyers tend to wait to purchase until an outcome is decided,” Mrs Eyers said.

“This election has been particularly noticeable, especially with the investor market, due to the uncertainty of what will happen with negative gearing.

“Serious buyers looking to make offers on properties have walked away waiting to see who will be in government.”

Mr Farris said waiting for an election outcome and other external influences were keeping a percentage of buyers at bay, but signs for the market were still positive.

“Current buyer enquiry through the small acreage/lifestyle property market is very strong and active, therefore should consumer confidence align once future announcements are made we may see a sharpening trend in buying activity moving through the first six months of the 2016/2017 financial year,” he said.