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Australians trust real estate agents on advice around property advertising more than property listing websites, family or friends, a new survey has found.
The LocalAgentFinder Real Estate Sentiment Report explores the attitudes of 1,000 Australians in relation to topical property issues.
The survey also found that while vendors typically pay property advertising costs in Australia, there may be upcoming pressure on agents to absorb these costs, with nearly half of respondents believing agents should pay for advertising. Two out of three sellers were unaware that they could ask the agent to cover advertising costs.
Also, when sellers are choosing an agent, they ranked the agent’s track record as the most important factor, followed by the strength of the relationship with the agent then the agent’s commission rate and customer testimonials.
LocalAgentFinder CEO Matt McCann said that the data paints a rosy picture of the future.
“While there are likely turbulent times ahead for the Australian property market, it is interesting to note that Australians appear to have very clear opinions about a number of controversial property topics.”
The Real Estate Sentiment Report also found that three out of four property owners that are considering selling expected to do so in the next two years.
It suggested that Australians are “extremely sympathetic” to the plight of first home buyers, with 71 per cent of people believing that the government is not doing enough to help this group.
Gains
Interestingly, more than half of survey respondents said that they would like to know the buyer of their property. Within this group, two out of three were willing to offer a discount to genuine first-time buyers, with nearly one in four comfortable to discount their property’s price between 5 and 10 per cent.
Mr McCann said he suspected that many people were “well aware” of the capital gains that they had achieved in recent years.
He felt it was this that is affecting their attitudes towards selling and first home buyers.
“The survey results suggest that Australians that are looking to sell are looking to do so as soon as possible, so they are likely well aware of the downturn in the market of late,” Mr McCann said.
“The prospect of rising interest rates may also be contributing to this view, with over half of respondents saying that they were ‘stressed’ by the prospect of rates increasing.
“The same group seems extremely aware of the effect the property boom has had on first home buyers and wants action to keep the Australian dream alive.”
The report also found that 78 per cent of respondents felt the government should do more to help retirees downsize.
It also found that as many as 84 per cent believed that the government isn’t doing enough to limit foreign investment.
Other findings are that most people said they would consider or prefer a private sale over an auction. Respondents over 55 years old were 400 per cent more likely to prefer a private sale.
Also, 28 per cent of respondents want the negative gearing system to remain as it is, while 19 per cent want negative gearing to be removed completely. Eight per cent want negative gearing to be scaled back to new properties, while 14 per cent want the tax benefits scaled back.
The report was commissioned by LocalAgentFinder and completed by independent research agency Nature in August of this year.
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