Signs of recovery

As a business owner, I am writing this with a mixture of relief as well as pride.  The real estate market has taken a hammering, particularly at the high end with the main effect being a substantial drop in transactions – very challenging.  But things are changing.  Our results for the past 3 months have, dare I say it, been consistent.  And dare I say even more, improving, to levels that are pre Financial Crisis.

Consumer sentiment is definitely on the up and buyers who have observed the market for the past 6 months are now acting.  Our strategy is now to do the very best by our vendors.  We have clients who have also been frustrated but they have continued to support us, something we really appreciate.   Some sale prices achieved in the past 3 weeks have been substantially up on expectations due to a strong belief in the price by our agents.

3 apartment sales this month have been over $2 million.  Finally, this market is starting to show signs of recovery.

In January this year, we realised it was going to be a tough year. Our focus has been on the core skills of our people.  Intense training in sales, negotiation and leadership has been our focus.  We are seeing this investment pay off for our clients with strong results.

The rental market has also improved.  We have been treading cautiously with vacancy creeping up particularly in the $1000+ per week bracket.  Our Asset Managers are talking about rent increases in this part of the market.  This is quite a turn around from my last newsletter. I am approaching this with caution but at the first available opportunity we will start pushing rents up.

Feel free to email me ewan@mortonandmorton.com.au with comment. Until next time.