With an oversupply of listings and heightened price sensitivity from buyers, it’s taking slightly longer than expected to secure a deal for many properties. According to REINZ data, at the end of June the national inventory level increased 28.6 percent year on year - from 24,676 to 31,745. At the same time new listings also saw a 25.5 percent boost, with twelve out of fifteen regions reporting a rise year on year.

So with that in mind, how do you know the difference between a slow campaign and a stale one, and what can you do to breathe new life into your listing?

WHAT CAN DELAY A SALE?

Securing finance is a big factor when it comes to stretching out or delaying a sales time, and Bayleys Auckland Residential General Manager Raymond Mountfort says economic pressures have a huge influence.

“So sometimes, when the economy is really tight, finance conditions can be hard to satisfy, and the market can slow down. Days on market for that sort of stock can stretch out, because it takes those people a little bit longer to secure finance.”

Mountfort says uncovering the unforeseen in a home can also extend the time it takes to make a sale.

“It could be that a previous owner had done some work that wasn't appropriately consented, and that's something that we need to deal with in the process of the sale.”

“If a property's got those issues, it can be even harder to secure finance too.”

The number of homes on the market can also slow things down, as competition becomes tough.

“For Auckland residential at Bayleys, across quarter one we listed 40 percent more stock than we did the same quarter last year, but we only sold 10 percent more stock during the same time period.”

“It was still a really strong sales figure, but lower than new listing numbers.”

“Sometimes a lot more stock is coming to the market, and it's just taking a little bit longer to move because there’s a bit of a backlog.”

Price expectation can contribute to the amount of time a property sits on the market unsold too.

“Buyers often simply don't see a house at the same value as a vendor, and that can be a problem.”

“They often base their information on recent sales, and sometimes there can be sales data that wasn't available to the vendor and the agent at the time when they set out in the campaign. Then it comes to light that there were a couple of sales at a lower level, and that can change a buyer’s perception of value.”

Traditionally the higher end, higher value stock takes longer to sell too, so Mountfort says it’s important to keep that in mind.

“Those buyers are few and far between with that level of affordability.”

HOW DO I KNOW MY LISTING IS STALE?

Mountfort says to list a property, typically, there are a couple of phases that it moves through.

“Firstly there would be an auction campaign, or if there was a deadline method of sale, that campaign would be the first month.”

“If that didn't identify a buyer, we may have an unconditional buyer. We then may have conditional buyers who are working after that. With those conditional buyers, if we don't manage to get a deal there, we might put a price on it.”

Mountfort says by this stage, the campaign would likely be around the 60 day mark.

“I think it's sort of at that 60 to 90 days that you're really having a good look at a piece of stock and working out what it is that you need to change up.”

“It’s that feeling when you've gone through an auction campaign, you've priced the property after the auction campaign, and inquiry's gone quiet. You've hit that 50 - 60 day mark, and the actual inquiries have gone quiet.”

Viewer numbers will also drop, and despite people visiting the online listing those people aren’t contacting the agent.

All of those things combined are a good indication that your listing may have gone stale.

HOW CAN YOU REFRESH A LISTING?

Changing up the photography, hero shot, heading and script are all things that can breathe new life into a stale listing.

“What you've also learned from marketing the property for a couple of months is what kind of buyers you’re attracting.”

“You could be pitching the home to a developer, and find out that people actually want to purchase the home as a family home and that's actually probably your biggest pool of buyers.”

At that point, Mountfort says it’s time to mix things up.

“It could be then that the photography is wrong because it's aerials and pictures of the land layout, when people really want to see what the kitchen and the bathroom looks like.”

“It's good to start moving into another stage of the marketing before a listing agreement lapses after 90 days.”

So what if it does lapse?

“While things can be taking a while, the vendor and agent can still enjoy working together and it often makes sense to renew the agency because you’ve already got some great momentum to carry it over.”

Mountfort says it’s important to keep communicating with your agent.

“We will often have meetings with vendors to share some honest feedback about why things haven't gone the way we thought they would go. We then look to change it.”

“It’s really nice for vendors to feel that there’s still a lot of enthusiasm from their agent, and a willingness to get a deal done.”

It’s important to remember that the time it takes for a listing to become stale does vary from home to home.

“With more prestigious homes agents are often already working with a buyer but the gap is a bit wider. It's going to take a bit longer to close, but everybody's collaborating and knows what they're doing.”

CAN A VENDOR DO ANYTHING EXTRA TO HELP?

Mountfort says there’s lots a vendor can do to help give the campaign a little extra push too.

“I think it's important for the vendor to learn from the reporting, and what buyers are saying.”

“If there’s something they can deal with, then they should absolutely deal with them. It could be something simple like a house wash, or removing a tree that makes a corner of the house dark.”

Mountfort says doing those things to the home can be negotiated in the deal, but often they can be a barrier for potential buyers to visualise themselves in the property.

“There are some things that should be an absolute minimum though. These are things like cleaning the property and decluttering. You shouldn’t need to be prompted by viewer feedback to do that.”

DON’T GET DISHEARTENED

Just because things may have not gone to plan, Mountfort says that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost.

“At Bayleys, we pride ourselves on being vendors' agents. We work for the vendor, and we take that responsibility seriously.”

When a listing does need to be refreshed, often the agent will draw on the expertise of the wider Bayleys team to get a property moving.

“At sales meetings, there'll be collaboration between colleagues. Managers have robust reports and accumulate a lot of data which we analyse to figure out what it is that a campaign needs next.”

“If a vendor has concerns and questions, they should communicate to their agent or to the manager. I think when we all talk through these roadblocks, we can create a path that suits both parties.”