Buyers agents exploit market shifts in Adelaide

Adelaide has continued to perform as one of Australia’s most consistent and resilient property markets.

With a combination of affordability, tight rental conditions, and strong population growth, the city is attracting a wide mix of buyers — but who’s really dominating: investors or owner-occupiers?

With Adelaide offering relatively high rental yields and low vacancy rates (below 1 per cent), it continues to appeal to yield-focused investors. However, strong demand from owner-occupiers, particularly young families and upgraders, still dominates the market.

Buyers agents cutting corners

With cooling market conditions being felt across Adelaide, this is allowing many buyers agents (BA) in that market to exploit the conditions to get deals over the line quicker and with less buyer competition.

This can be an advantage to investors in many ways, with negotiation power sitting firmly with the buyer, but can also result in some downsides for investors using a BA.

Adelaide is seeing an emergence of buyer’s agent firms not wanting to carry the cost of dedicated staff in that market, as their volumes of investors have declined.

Having a buyers agent in that area or travelling back and forth from interstate is a cost to any business and this is a cost many firms will not absorb if they don’t have a good volume of buyers and investors to cover it.

This can result in the BA firm outsourcing their inspections to less qualified third parties on the ground, or using video walk throughs from the selling agent, instead of conducting their own thorough inspection.

This practice is commonplace in some BA firms, but it is certainly not best practice.

It can result in the investor having a property recommended that isn’t aligned to their individual needs and strategy, paying too much for the property as the BA negotiating hasn’t seen the property themselves, or there being information that is critical to the performance of the asset not being discovered prior to a sale being locked in, especially if the BA is relying on the selling agent’s walk through.

Growing use of buyer’s agents amongst investors

The use of buyers agents in Adelaide is on the rise, especially among:

• interstate investors unfamiliar with the local landscape
• first-time buyers seeking access to off-market deals
• time-poor professionals wanting expert negotiation support.

While buyers agents were once reserved for high-end or prestige buyers, their services are becoming more mainstream and especially for out of area investors seeking local knowledge and someone who has a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ approach.

Typical fees for a purchase under $1 million sit between $15,000 and $20,000, with bespoke or home buyer models potentially higher.

If selecting a BA firm that has national coverage or operate in a range off cross border locations, a buyer needs to deep dive into the company’s model to know they will get the best outcome.

Taking Adelaide for example, a reputable BA firm will still have dedicated staffing and resources on the ground in Adelaide and have real estate licenses in that location.

This will allow them to leverage the softer market conditions in Adelaide for their buyers to get a better property for less.

Investors do need to ask the right questions when interviewing BAs, to ensure they do not outsource their inspection. It is also important to ascertain that they do not pay their buyers agent’s commissions, as this can lead to a BA pushing a poor-quality property on a buyer to hit an income target for the month.

Targeted locations for buyers agents in Adelaide

As an investor in those areas, you might find some locations are particularly dominated by professional BA’s and you may need to be competing with them to get a property.

Or worse, all the good off-market properties are being snapped up by BAs before you even get a look at them.

We are seeing firsthand that some pockets are more popular, such as the sub $750,000 locations where you can still pick up a free-standing house. This includes areas like Salisbury, Hackham West, Christies Beach and Woodcroft.

Driving these locations are:

• strong migration to SA from interstate and overseas
• infrastructure investment, particularly in northern and coastal corridors
• tight rental markets, pushing investors back into the market
• relative affordability compared to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

With recent annual growth rates of around 8 to 9 per cent as of mid-2025, SA is outperforming many eastern capital cities. Forecasts for the remainder of 2025 remain positive, with expected growth of 4 to 6 per cent, underpinned by a likely easing in interest rates and continued supply shortages.

Adelaide’s property market remains balanced, with a healthy mix of investor and owner-occupier activity.

The rise in buyers agent engagement signals a maturing market where professional advice is becoming more valued.

For both investors and home buyers, Adelaide continues to offer long-term opportunity — but navigating the competitive landscape requires local insights, due diligence and a strategic mindset.