Inside winter's secret bargains for affordable home hunters

News.com.au

2 days ago

Queensland homebuyers can bag a bargain in winter with less competition and lower prices, new research reveals.
Exclusive data from Ray White has found the cheapest time to buy a property, as well as when they are more expensive.
August took the crown as the cheapest month to buy in Brisbane, with a median value of $620,000 over houses and units.
SEE FULL LIST OF SUBURBS BY MONTH TO BUY AND SELL
The winter months emerged as the cheapest time to buy in a whopping 718 suburbs around the state, followed by summer, when 524 suburbs recorded the most affordable sales. Meanwhile, spring had 486, and autumn rounded out the seasons with 357 suburbs.
The winter period also took three of the top four months throughout the year where homes most often sold at their cheapest.
Chief economist of property firm PRD Real Estate, Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo, said while winter was perceived as a slower real estate period, competitive buyers often used the season to house hunt behind the scenes.
'During the winter months, you may not see a lot of people,' she said. 'That does not mean people are not actively bidding or buying.'
'People who are looking at houses in winter when they'd rather stay in bed on a rainy day like today, they're actually there to make a purchase.'
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said these figures were due to higher activity occurring in spring, where buyers were given more choice in a busier market – making winter's cheaper deals a double-edged sword.
'Spring is the time that most people sell because their homes look best,' she said.
'If you're looking to buy, you tend to get the most choice in spring.'
Ray White's research was calculated by measuring 2085 suburbs across Queensland over a period of ten years.
It showed April was the top month where homes sold at their highest prices in Brisbane, coming in at a median value of $676,000 over that decade.
April also appeared as the month where the most suburbs sold houses for the highest price, at 324 suburbs throughout the state.
Outside of the winter months, January and September were the only others to appear in the top 5 months where houses most often sold at their lowest median price.
Ms Conisbee said some of these months may have appeared so often due to a smaller range of appealing options for buyers.
'There's not much that's sold in January – people tend to go away, so there's not much activity,' she said.
While winter had many suburbs selling at cheap prices, autumn was the state's cheapest season in terms of average median cost.
Despite April's high prices in Brisbane, the average of Queensland's cheapest median house prices each season put autumn at $310,199.
This beat spring and summer's prices of $350,386 and $360,352, with winter's overall cheapest prices coming in last at $426,749.
Ms Conisbee added location played heavily into when homes would often sell the best.
'Location's really important,' she said. 'If you have a look at places closer to the beach, we find they sometimes get better results in summer, as there are more people are around and the weather is better.'
Across every suburb, their cheapest months saw homes selling for an average median of $372,307.
Dr Mardiasmo said the best way to balance buying cheap at any time of the year is to check the suburb you're shopping in for how it would look in the future.
'If you are looking to buy at the moment,' she said, 'it's not always about what's the cheapest. It's about making sure you get the best bang for your buck.'
'You want to be aware of what other developments, projects or constructions are [on] in your suburb', she added. 'That gives you a gauge on what sort of supply is going to come, because with more supply you get more choices.'
'You also need to be aware of what other infrastructure or commercial projects are on in the area … the more infrastructure, the more it's going to be one of those suburbs that keeps on getting new life.'