11 weeks: The selling window is starting to close

There are less than 11 weeks until Saturday 31 October.

In real estate terms, that isn't very long. Most property campaigns run for somewhere between four and six weeks. Add the preparation required before launch - presentation, photography, marketing, contracts and strategy - and the calendar suddenly starts to matter.

For anyone considering selling this year, the conversation is shifting. It is becoming less about whether to sell and more about when to go.

In our view, the strongest remaining selling window for 2026 is to have a campaign completed through October, with some capacity to extend into the first half of November if required.

Yes, properties sell in late November and December, but every year we see buyer energy begin to change as the year draws to a close. Buyers become tired, weekends disappear, and attention shifts towards Christmas, holidays and the following year.

We call it buyer fatigue. And this year, we believe it could arrive earlier and be more pronounced. Buyers have already absorbed an extraordinary amount this year; changing interest-rate expectations, falling prices, economic uncertainty, a controversial Federal Budget and an almost relentless negative property news cycle.

By November, many will simply have had enough, which makes the next 11 weeks important.

Don't wait for the market to change

We are all well aware of current market conditions. The more useful question now is: what is realistically going to change them before the end of the year?

In our view, there is very little on the immediate horizon likely to materially improve buyer sentiment this year. Economic conditions are unlikely to change quickly. Interest rates remain restrictive. The economic data being reported is lagging what households and businesses are already experiencing, while property headlines continue to focus heavily on the prospect of further price falls.

None of that provides buyers with a compelling reason to suddenly become more aggressive. So, rather than waiting for a different market to arrive, sellers need to make decisions based on the market that actually exists.

The market is starting to function better

This is the more encouraging part.

We are seeing some improvement in transactions. Buyers are willing to engage when smart sellers make sensible decisions, and competitive tension is appearing on the right properties.

But there is a common thread. The sellers getting deals done are meeting the market. They are listening to the evidence, setting a price that encourages engagement and allowing competition between buyers to determine the final result.

That is very different from simply discounting a property. Good strategy in this market is about creating the conditions in which buyers participate.

There is still too much property sitting on the market at asking prices buyers have already rejected. In a declining market, time rarely fixes that problem. More often, the market moves further away while the property becomes increasingly familiar.

Spring will bring more competition

Spring is now approaching and, over the last ten days, we're already seeing the forerunners as some sellers look to get an early jump on the September market.

It doesn't appear we'll see an enormous surge of stock, but our conversations across the market reveal there are plenty of owners considering selling. Many are still hoping conditions will rapidly improve before making a decision.

That creates a potential problem.

If too many sellers wait for evidence of a recovery that doesn't arrive, they risk boxing themselves into a compressed sale timeline late in the year, just as buyer energy begins to dissipate.

In our experience, you don't want to be testing the market for the first time in late November. You are far better off making decisions now. That doesn't necessarily mean putting your property on the market tomorrow. It means understanding its current value, looking carefully at the competing stock, identifying the likely buyer pool, working backwards from your preferred completion date and deciding what preparation is required.

Then you can choose your timing deliberately rather than allowing the calendar to choose it for you. We have a clear picture of where this market sits. Perhaps these aren't the conditions many sellers were hoping for this Spring, but it's important to reinforce that the market is functioning.

There are buyers. There are transactions happening. And there are strong results being achieved when price, presentation, timing and strategy align.

Our view is simple: if selling in 2026 is genuinely on your agenda, the next few weeks matter. The next 11 weeks will move quickly. This is the window to get active, make a plan and put yourself in the strongest position to get a deal done this year.