Vendors must hop to it to secure Easter auctions in spite of the weather

Time is running out for pre-Easter auction listings.

Any marketing campaign prior to Easter has to be ideally photographed within the next fortnight, and Sydney’s weather is causing problems for vendors.

“Some agents are complaining of a shortage of stock,” Richardson & Wrench Mosman agent Robert Simeon says.

He says it is noteworthy that Mosman has just 108 houses listed at the moment, given it peaked at 168 last spring.

Across the harbour Laing + Simmons Double Bay agent Sally Hampshire says her last auction before Easter was Tuesday, April 3, and the deadline for advertising was Wednesday, March 7.

Every year record sa rush to pre-Easter listings with huge numbers – and the year’s first super Saturdays – in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Agents often have noted that Easter, like the Christmas break, can also present a pause to the market, which can shift market momentum – positively or negatively – for the remainder of the year.

Both Melbourne and Sydney agents typically experience autumn auction overload, with hectic scheduling to beat the calendar deadline.

With lovely light and deciduous trees adding colour to backyard, March can be a great time to photograph your property – and even file the pictures away for listing in the future.

Bart Doff from Laing + Simmons Double Bay says its best for vendors to plan well ahead.

“I'd get the photography and copy done as early as possible – and get it up on the internet as a forthcoming auction to generate enquiry – and if you’re lucky maybe sell prior to the start of the formal campaign,” he advises.

Christies International agent Ken Jacobs says he has listings ready to go to market.

“We can’t get the ads going because we are awaiting photography,” Jacobs says.

Sam Triggs at the rural agency Meares & Associates says farmers would “need to be pushing buttons now if they’d like to sell before Easter”.

“We are reasonably busy with new listings, and most people have returned from their summer break, so begin now to revisit the market.

“The weather … short term, the northern part of New South Wales has obviously been heavily flooded, which would prolong any marketing programs in those flooded areas.

“The south of the state (NSW) has experienced a mild summer with ongoing rain events, so it presents in good condition …   but the wet summer resulted in a lot of downgraded wheat, … so lower prices received by farmers,” Triggs says.

LH Hooker Palm Beach agent Peter Robinson says Sydney northern beaches clients need to sign up by February 27 in order to secure an early April auction, given the lead in time for adverts to be booked.

“We have a few good campaigns coming up pre-Easter, which should stimulate some demand, however there certainly are not as many as in previous years, so there will be less stock on the market leading up to Easter.

“It’s probably a good thing.

“The last few weeks have been strong, we have had sales in Palm Beach and Whale Beach of $865,000, $1.6 million, $1,625,000, $1.7 million, $2,365,000, $5.4 million, and there are a few enquiries out there, especially sub-$2.5 million,” Robinson says.

Balmain McGrath agent Sarah Lorden says the weather had “been a bit of pain for photography” although some properties can get around it and use more twilight shots. “But I have had two campaigns pushed back by two weeks, one in the country and one as a waterfront, as they completely rely on brilliant blue sky to maximise their positions,” Lorden notes.

The first auction marketing campaign for 2012 has gotten off to a slow start, with volumes down in both Sydney and Melbourne.

In Sydney there were 80 scheduled auctions last weekend. Clinton McNabb, research analyst at Australian Property Monitors, notes the number rises to 198 auction listings over progressive weekends to 429.

Melbourne had 112 reported auctions last weekend, which rises to 850 on the last Saturday of February, according to Robert Larocca, communications manager at the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.