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PHOTO: Ray White<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking back on February, our group sold almost $3 billion worth of property across Australia and New Zealand, which was 13 per cent lower than the same time last year. \u00a0This decline was mainly as a result of lower number of sales on the prior year.\u00a0\u00a0There is no doubt that there are more potential buyers being active in the home search process at present, especially in Australia. \u00a0We are seeing this in the numbers at our open for inspections and auctions, which are both well up 2018.<\/p>\n While there are more buyers, they remain cautious and in the absence of competition, are in general not prepared to improve their offers to meet vendor expectations. \u00a0They feel that this is \u2018their\u2019 market, and time is on their side. As stock levels continue to rise,buyers seem comfortable to consider other options. \u00a0Will potential buyers who do not transact look back on this time regretfully and say \u201cthat was a great time to buy\u2026.I wish I could have my time over!\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0In uncertain markets, buyers don\u2019t find confidence by looking at the prices similar properties sold for last year, even last month. They find confidence by knowing that there are other buyers willing to pay a similar price to them for the specific property they are looking at. \u00a0It is no surprise then that we have seen a small, but genuine, lift in auction clearance rates in Sydney and Melbourne.Information is power in this market and we now have the data which proves that\u00a0auctions are the best way to sell in all markets from Perth to Port Douglas and in Parnell for vendors to achieve the best possible price in the shortest possible time on market. Days on market for private treaty is up to three times that of auction stock\u00a0which is makes for sobering reading in some markets when you compare the two selling methods.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been some new corporate appointments this month too which will are already proving to enhance our support to the network.<\/p>\n