Seller satisfaction rockets in line with house price rise

Home sellers in Victoria’s Wimmera region have taken the title of Australia’s happiest, while the national proportion of vendors satisfied with their selling price rose by nearly 20 per cent year on year. 

RateMyAgent’s latest Price Expectations Report showed 63 per cent of home sellers across Australia were happy with their sales price at the end of June, up from 45 per cent at the same time last year.

The report examined more than 47,600 sales in the first half of 2021 and showed significant increases in seller satisfaction across the country, in line with rising home values in the first six months of the year.

Across capital cities, seller happiness rose from 46 per cent midway through 2020 to 63 per cent at the end of June, while regional areas recorded a similar increase, rising from 42 per cent last year to 63 per cent at the end of June.

Tasmania was rated as Australia’s happiest state, with 77 per cent of homes sold resulting in a satisfied seller.

Victoria, however, lost its status as Australia’s second most satisfied state, with its 63 per cent of happy vendors leap-frogged by South Australia at 67 per cent and New South Wales at 65 per cent.

Western Australia and Queensland were trailing the pack with 57 per cent of vendors in both states satisfied with their sales price, but year on year increases of 23 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, illustrated the effects of rising property prices.

In an illustration of the strong levels of demand for regional properties, seven out of the 10 happiest regions in Australia at the end of June were outside of capital cities. 

Australia's 10 happiest regions for home sellers

1. Wimmera (VIC) - 78%
2. Hobart (TAS) - 74%
3. South-east (TAS) - 71 %
4. Richmond-Tweed (QLD) - 70%
5. Metropolitan Adelaide - 70%
6. Launceston (TAS) - 70%
7. Richmond-Tweed (NSW) - 70%
8. The Hills District (NSW) - 69%
9. Greater Sydney (NSW) - 67%
10. The Mallee (VIC) - 67%

A look at median house prices in these regions shows why seller satisfaction has risen so strongly.

In Horsham, the biggest regional centre in Victoria’s Wimmera, CoreLogic data showed the median house price rose from $248,800 in June 2020, to $303,400 at the end of June this year.

A similar scenario played out in Kingston, in South East Tasmania, where median house prices rose by 24 per cent to $647,000 over the same period.

And in Byron Bay in NSW’s Richmond-Tweed region, a phenomenal lift in home values showed why the vast majority of home sellers were cheering, with CoreLogic’s median house price rocketing from $1.3 million midway through last year, to $2.3 million at the end of June.

RateMyAgent co-founder Mark Armstrong said the report showed how remarkably resilient the property market had been over the pandemic.

“Only 2 per cent of Australian vendors reported sale prices below their expectations in the first half of this year,” Mr Armstrong said.

“This is a record result in RateMyAgent’s happiness indices and indicative of the current state of play across the market.”

Mr Armstrong said the strong increase in satisfaction was a reflection of the large volume of transactions that have taken place in 2021.

“In the past six months, transactions are up 69 per cent from the same period last year,” he said.

“Looking ahead, while we are currently at the top of the price expectation cycle, the window for the optimum time to sell will begin to close over the next few months.

“The Spring market is traditionally the best time to sell, and we expect to see supply of property break records in the second half of the year.”