(Source: realestate.com.au)
In its latest Consumer Insight Report realestate.com.au takes the pulse of today’s prospective buyers. We’ve discovered they’re in better health than a year ago, and diagnosed why.

The major reason for their rosier outlook is that buyers feel more secure they’re not going to be knocked off-course by rising interest rates and property prices.

Increasingly, buyers are confident the market has for the moment peaked and mortgage rates have plateaued too – and the expectation is that both will stabilise for a while.

With rising confidence that their budgets and ambitions are secure from spiraling home prices and upward twists in interest rates, home buyers are not rushing into decisions. The proportion taking six months or longer before purchasing has gone up 46 per cent. The auction market has cooled too, with fewer people going to auctions and more of those who do bidding below the reserve.

With the slowdown in demand has come a growing supply of homes for sale.

Renters buying on the increase
Renters now make up 25 per cent of all prospective buyers, compared with 16 per cent last year, and in the $400,000 and under price band those wanting to get a first foot on the property ladder now make up 64 per cent of prospective buyers.

The competitive edge
To find out in detail how the ground’s moved under buyers in the past year and how they’re reacting to these shifts in the market, download the Report in full here. It’s the information that will give you, our agent partners, a competitive edge in what is becoming a more nuanced sales environment.

Source: The Buyer Insights Report – May 2011

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