Buyer and seller insights survey - summer edition

Survey of 1,713 Trade Me users actively engaged in property searches and watchlisting*

56.7% feel it’s a good time to buy (+3.6 points). In contrast, only 18.1% feel now is a good time to sell. 46.3% remain neutral which suggests that there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the market for homeowners.

What this means: There's an opportunity for agents to provide real-time market updates and highlight successes to help reduce homeowner uncertainty.

39.4% are looking to buy property within the next 12 months (+9.2 points). 26.8% of which are looking to buy in the next 6 months specifically. In addition to this, 10.8% are looking to buy within the next 1-2 years (-4.2 points) suggesting the OCR changes are having a positive effect on buyer plans and cutting back purchase timelines.

The data suggests buyer caution does remain, with cost of living and mortgage payments still sitting in the top three concerns. These have dropped slightly though which is promising. Cost of living is down 4.9 points to 40.5% and mortgage payments down 6.6 points to 35.3%.

It’s worth calling out that competition is starting to be felt again with 43.7% feeling it is a competitive market among buyers (+2.7 points). We’re still far off FOMO times but there is an upward trend.

Overall, homeowner concerns are easing and more are looking to sell in the next 12 months compared to our spring survey in September 2024. Survey data shows the majority of homeowners who are looking to buy in the next 6 months have owned their property for 5+ years.

What this means: Spend time contacting past vendors who have owned their home for 5+ years first when prospecting for listings.

According to our survey, the number one most useful advice for vendors (pre sale) is the marketing and advertising strategy. This has surpassed the property valuation to claim the top spot for summer. When it comes to buyers, the number one thing they're looking for is advice on pricing.

But - to even get your foot through the door for that appraisal - homeowners are looking at recent sales in the area and using that information to help decide which agent to list with.

What this means: Keep your agent profile on Trade Me Property up-to-date with all of your latest achievements and when you sell a property, make sure you're adding the sold price to the listing. All of this can be done in your OneHub account. Last but not least, review your marketing and advertising strategy to see how it stacks up against your competition.