Softer Selling Conditions Hand Property Buyers More Leverage

Three national indicators are moving the same way this spring, and together they say something concrete about who holds the stronger hand at the negotiating table. Properties are sitting on the market for longer, vendors are accepting bigger discounts off their original asking price, and fewer sales are settling overall. None of this is anecdotal: Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) measures all three every month across the capital cities and the regions.

• Median time on market: 39 days, up from 28 days a year ago
• Median vendor discount across the combined capitals: 4.2%, the widest since January 2023
• National sales volumes: down 2.7% in the year to August 2026, with capital cities down 5.2% and regional areas up 1.8%

Three signals pointing the same way

Each measure covers a different part of the sales process, which is why it matters that all three are softening together. Longer time on market shows demand taking longer to find each listing. A wider discount shows what vendors give up once a buyer is found. Fewer sales, alongside listings up 18.1% to 139,100 properties nationally, mean more stock and fewer rivals per listing.

Any one figure could be a single odd month. Together, they show a vendor's ability to hold their price has genuinely weakened over the past year.

What a longer time on market tells you about a vendor

A property listed well past the local average is telling you something before you have made an offer. Either it was priced too high, earlier interest did not convert, or the vendor has not yet accepted what the market is offering. Every extra week without a sale tends to erode the vendor's position more than the buyer's.

Before offering on a listing that has been sitting for a while, check:

• How long it has actually been listed, and whether the price has already been cut once or more
• Whether it was relisted with a new agent, which often signals an earlier campaign that failed
• Whether comparable nearby properties sold faster, which points to something specific about this listing rather than the whole market

What a 4.2% median discount is actually worth

The vendor discount is the gap between a property's original advertised price and what it eventually sells for. A national median of 4.2% across the capitals, the widest since January 2023, means vendors are on average giving up noticeably more ground than a year ago.

Treat it as a reference point for where negotiations are landing, not an entitlement on any one property. Well-priced or genuinely scarce listings will not move anywhere near the median, while a listing that has already had one or two price drops may have more room built in than the headline figure suggests.

Softer volumes mean less competition per listing

Fewer settled sales combined with more total listings changes the maths at every open home. Instead of several serious buyers competing for one property, you are more often one of a smaller pool weighing a wider set of options, which reduces the pressure to overbid.

The national auction clearance rate tells a similar story, sitting below 50% since early June. Fewer than half of auctions clearing means more passed-in properties and post-auction negotiations, which favour a patient buyer over a vendor keen to move on.

Turning the data into a negotiating approach

None of these figures replace a proper look at the specific property, but they give a realistic starting point rather than negotiating blind against the asking price alone.

1. Pull the listing history before you make an offer: days on market, any price changes, and whether it has been relisted.
2. Use the local median discount as a reference for your opening offer, not the advertised price.
3. Treat a listing that has sat well past the local average time on market as one where a lower or more conditional offer is more likely to be taken seriously.
4. Have finance pre-approved so you can move quickly once a vendor signals they are ready to deal.
5. Negotiate on settlement terms and conditions, not just price. A longer or shorter settlement, or fewer conditions, can matter as much to a motivated vendor.

A national trend, not a guarantee for your suburb

These are national and capital city medians, and Cotality's own figures show how unevenly the pattern plays out underneath that average. Upper quartile houses in Sydney and Melbourne have recorded considerably larger falls than more affordable homes, while Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane show a more even pattern across price bands. A national 39 day median or 4.2% discount says little about one suburb, property type or price bracket.

What softer conditions mean for a specific purchase, financing decision or investment structure depends on details a general article cannot cover. Speak to us about your circumstances before you put an offer in.

Disclaimer: This article contains general information only and does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice. It has been prepared without regard to your objectives, financial situation or needs. Tax and superannuation laws change frequently, and the information in this article may not reflect the current law or may become inaccurate over time. Before acting on anything in this article, you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and seek advice from a registered tax agent or qualified adviser.