The market and locations

Two questions sit underneath every purchase: what is the market doing, and is this the right place? Neither has a precise answer, but both can be researched well enough to avoid an expensive mistake.

What moves prices

• Interest rates. Lower rates raise what everyone can borrow, which raises what everyone can bid. Higher rates cool demand. This is the single biggest short-term driver.
• Employment and wages. Confidence and capacity to borrow both follow the job market.
• Supply and demand. Limited stock pushes prices up and leaves you bidding against people; plenty of stock hands you negotiating power.
• Credit policy. What regulators allow lenders to write changes who can buy, sometimes abruptly.

For the data itself: Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) and Domain publish regular market updates, the Reserve Bank's statements explain rate decisions in plain terms, and state planning departments publish housing supply figures. Read a few months of them before drawing conclusions from any one.

Choosing a location

If your work is remote-friendly, the question widens considerably. A capital-city salary against a regional cost base is the single largest affordability lever available to some buyers, and it is worth asking your employer directly rather than assuming the answer.

The tools worth using

Whether to use a buyer's agent

A buyer's agent is the only professional in the transaction paid by you to represent you. They search, appraise, and bid. They cost money up front, typically a fixed fee or a percentage, and for a first purchase in an unfamiliar market they can pay for themselves by stopping you overpaying or buying something with a problem. A percentage fee gives them an interest in a higher price; a fixed fee doesn't. Prefer the fixed fee.