Copy by Graham White Managing Director, Local Real EstateThis month’s article is written for property practitioners, but probably applies to most industries.
Positive sentiment regarding the property market on the North Coast is growing. As we are now firmly into the last quarter of the year, and it has been a hard year in the saddle, it would be very tempting for property practitioners to start slowing down and go into cruise control as we tick over the last 8 weeks of real business time until the end of 2024. I would however caution against this - and for a couple of good reasons
Firstly the market is still growing nicely, as it has done since the beginning of the year. The house price inflation graphs are starting to go back the right way and October and November, like I reported last month, are statistically some of the best months we (at Local Real Estate) have had for agreeing offers. So as tired and fatigued as some of you may be, I would urge you to dig in just a little longer and strike while the iron is hot.
The main, and second, reason however is more to do with timing and planning, particularly given the cycle we are coming into that property practitioners ought to be aware of. An agent, in their capacity as a small business owner, should always be looking about 3 months ahead around, with the top agents focussing on 6 and possibly more months.
Three months however is a given for any agent, as they know that whatever agreements they sign now they will probably only get renumerated at the start of next year. This qualifies for any time of year, but right now, there are a couple of extra factors at play. Importantly, December is the quietest month for agreeing offers and January can often be the second lowest month for the same metric, or at least the 1st half of January can be. That leaves all sales agents with somewhat of a black hole of potentially 4-6 weeks approaching, if not longer.
The reality however is that this needn’t be a problem, for the most part anyway. Rather don’t panic and just be aware that it is what is it. The point is, if you are aware that this is going to happen, then pre-empt and prepare. This takes me back to the point of this article of not slowing down just yet and working as hard as possible in order to future proof and secure “business” for Q1 2025. In effect, the best agents will now try and agree 3 months’ worth of business in the next 2 months
I am big believer in balance. An agent simply cannot work full time, 365 days a year, so having a well-earned break at the end of the year, to refresh and recuperate, given that it is also the quietest time of the year, makes a lot of sense, especially if an agent has worked hard leading into Christmas.
However, if you do give in to the urge to go to start slowing down now, then you can expect a pretty rough time at the start of 2025.