Over 90% of vendors have unrealistic price expectations, says agent survey

The survey found that 92 per cent of agents believed that vendor expectations are unrealistic, with 55 per cent going so far to say that sale expectations are $50,000 above market price.

This contrasted with 78 per cent of home owners who believed that their price expectations were realistic, and 36 per cent of vendors said they had expectations up to $50,000 above market.

The survey showed that, alarmingly, only 52 per cent of vendors said they would “slightly” adjust their price guide after agent feedback.

On the flipside, 77 per cent of agents said that vendors took their advice most of the time, and a further 7 per cent believed that vendors took their advice every time.

Gavl spokesperson and auctioneer Justin Nickerson said that the survey showed that agents would try to match the expectations, but it could be difficult.

“While the data reveals that there are agents who don’t have trouble managing sales price expectations, I haven’t met one who said this wasn’t a challenge,” Mr Nickerson said.

Mr Nickerson said that there would always be differences between vendors and agents, but it came down to how agents managed them.

“These differences will always be a factor for agents and vendors to work through, but there are ways for agents to manage vendor expectations such as presenting recent sales of similar properties in their area,” the spokesperson said.