The great property pivot: quirky sales tactics sellers are turning to in Sydney and Melbourne

For years, navigating the property market in Sydney felt like running a marathon in a pressure cooker. 

Open homes were packed to the rafters, and multi-million-dollar properties sold within days of hitting the market. If you were a buyer, you didn’t negotiate; you just threw every last dollar at an auction out of sheer FOMO.

This year, the script has completely flipped.

According to data from Cotality, the cooling trend across Australia’s major capital cities has arrived with surprising speed. Melbourne prices are down 2.7%, Sydney prices are down 1.9%, while in the nation’s capital of Canberra, prices are flat.

In Australia’s two largest capital cities, we’ve officially transitioned from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. The multi-million-dollar properties that used to trigger bidding wars are now sitting empty at open homes, and being passed in at auction.

What does a buyer's market actually mean? 

Simply put, the balance of power in the property market has shifted. For a long time, sellers held all the cards, and had their pick of buyers. Today, a combination of interest rate hikes, economic wobbles, global uncertainty and the fallout from the government’s latest property tax reforms have pushed a significant number of those buyers to the sidelines.

With fewer rivals on the field, the buyers who remain suddenly have the upper hand. They’re no longer driven by FOMO; instead, they’re gripped by FOOP – a fear of overpaying!

As a result, buyers now have the luxury of time–time to inspect properties thoroughly, negotiate harder, offer below the asking price and dictate contract terms to their liking.

Supercars, luxury handbags and $1 reserves: the new real estate playbook

In times like these, when sellers are seeing homes sit on the market for weeks, panic can breed some serious creativity. To cut through the noise, real estate agents and vendors are pulling out all the stops, offering extras that sit a lot further out of the box than a garden shed.

Real estate agents are having to work a lot harder to get people through the door, from offering up simple perks such as barista-operated coffee carts to crazy social media stunts to attract eyeballs. Here are some of the most colourful examples we’ve heard about:

• Designer giveaways: According to SBS, one seller threw in a "free" Chanel handbag to sweeten the deal.
• High-horsepower incentives: Other vendors are parking sweeteners right in the driveway – and leaving them for the new owner – including a high-end supercar.
• The $1 reserve gamble: As reported by RealEstate.com.au – one extreme case of creative pricing, an agent advertised a burnt-out house with a price guide of $55,000 to $60,000 but set the auction reserve at a single dollar. The gamble paid off: it generated a flood of interest and competitive bidding that pushed the final sale price to $98,000.

How can buyers capitalise on this power shift?

If you’re looking to buy in Sydney, Melbourne, or Canberra right now, this is your window of opportunity. Here is how to make the most of it:

1. Use time to your advantage: Check the listing history. If a home has been sitting on the market for more than a few weeks, the seller is likely getting fatigued and frustrated, making them far more receptive to lower offers.
2. Uncover the seller’s motivation: Ask the agent why the owner is selling. Have they already purchased their next property? A vendor under a strict timeline to sell can be your golden ticket. If you can align with their timeline via a flexible settlement, you can negotiate heavily on price.
3. Back up your offer with data: Don't just throw out a lowball figure that might insult the vendor. Bring a spreadsheet showing comparable properties sold in the immediate area over the past three months to prove your offer is based on evidence, not opportunism.
4. Keep your pre-approval up-to-date: Regardless of whether it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market, financial readiness is vital. Check in with your bank or broker frequently to ensure your borrowing capacity hasn't changed, allowing you to move instantly when the right deal appears.
5. Park your FOMO: Be completely prepared to walk away. In a buyer's market, time is on your side, and there will always be another house.

What can sellers do to help their cause?

Selling in a down market largely requires a different mindset. If you need to list your property, keep these tips in mind:

1. Be a realist, not an optimist: Chasing yesterday's prices is a costly mistake. Acknowledge that the market has shifted, and price your property accurately from day one.
2. Invest in styling: Presentation is non-negotiable when buyers are picky. Professional styling can be expensive, but you can mimic the effect for a fraction of the cost by sourcing key furniture pieces and textured soft furnishings yourself, then reselling them later on the second-hand market.
3. Apply a lick of paint: A quick, affordable lick of neutral paint can instantly lift a tired space and make it feel brand new.
4. Hire a cycle-tested agent: Some agents might have only ever worked in a booming seller's market. Look for an experienced agent with a proven track record of successfully negotiating and closing deals during market downturns.
5. Stay flexible: find out what your prospective buyers need. Offering a longer settlement, fixing a minor structural flaw, or paying for the building and pest report yourself can be the exact leverage needed to close the deal.

A two-speed nation: don’t think for a second the tables have turned everywhere

While some of the south-eastern capitals are feeling the chill, it is vital to note that this property downturn is not uniform. If you look west or north, markets like Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth are still skyrocketing.

Perth, in particular, is leading the country. Homes there are being snapped up within days, frequently receiving dozens of competing offers. Because Perth’s median house price is still sitting around the $1 million mark, compared to Sydney’s broader median of roughly $1.6 million, local buyers haven’t hit their affordability ceilings yet. 

Combined with an acute, ongoing shortage of housing stock, competition remains fierce. The gap between Sydney and Melbourne and the rest of the nation is clearly reflected in the latest CBA dwelling price forecasts:

Source: CBA economic insights released 3 June 2026.

Sellers in these other markets may not need to break out the Chanel handbags and high-end supercars just yet, but it will remain to be seen what happens to the market nationally over the coming year.