Harcourts Pinnacle, is excited to announce the addition of two new talented professionals, Annie Mac and Kiarah Macam. This expansion underscores the agency’s commitment to providing exceptional service and expertise to clients across the Brisbane and Moreton Bay region.

Annie Mac brings a wealth of experience and a passion for helping people that aligns perfectly with the values of Harcourts Pinnacle. “I’m incredibly excited to join the Harcourts Pinnacle family. With their support, I’m confident we can achieve outstanding results that exceed our clients’ expectations. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together—watch this space!” said Annie Mac.

Kiarah Macam, known for her dedication also joins the team. “I’m excited to Join Harcourts Pinnacle, where I can bring my passion and initiative to inspire our community and the surrounding areas within the Moreton Bay region. Not only am I eager to deliver our valuable service, but I’m also blessed to align with other individuals on this team who share the same value as Annie and myself and will continue to make a positive difference.” stated Kiarah Macam.

Johnny Lin, Principal of Harcourts Pinnacle, expressed his enthusiasm about the new additions to the team. “We are delighted to welcome Annie and Kiarah to our family. Their experience, professionalism, and passion for real estate are exactly what we need to continue delivering outstanding results for our clients. The Annie Mac Team have been delivering exceptional results for their clients and we are excited to help them deliver this even further with our Agent Support Services” said Johnny Lin.

With Annie Mac and Kiarah Macam on board, Harcourts Pinnacle continues to add talent to the agency to deliver results for our clients. The agency looks forward to the innovative ideas and perspectives they will bring to the team, further expanding its reputation as a trusted leader in the Brisbane and Moreton Bay real estate market.

For more information, please contact:

David McCall
Chief Operations Officer
Harcourts Pinnacle
0423 443 822
david@harcourtspinnacle.com.au

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We are thrilled to announce that Christine McKay, a seasoned real estate professional with a focus on the Keperra property market, has joined our agency. Christine brings a wealth of experience and an exceptional track record for achieving results, making her a valuable addition to our team.

“We are excited to welcome Christine McKay to our team,” said Johnny Lin, principal of Harcourts Pinnacle. “Her drive to achieve results make her a perfect fit for our agency. We look forward to the contributions she will bring and the exceptional service she will provide to our clients.”

Christine is eager to leverage her skills and experience to help clients achieve their real estate goals.

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Harcourts Pinnacle is please to announce that the highly regarded real estate agent Mike Melvin has joined the team.

Harcourts Pinnacle Principal Johnny Lin comments “Mike Melvin joins us from another large real estate brand! We are stoked to have him a part of our family!

After having followed his career over the past two years and seeing how he has excelled in not only becoming an amazing agent but also one that represents our Harcourts values, we are incredibly excited to have Mike join our team.

We cannot wait to work alongside Mike and assist him to reach his full potential  of becoming the number 1 agent in Mango Hill and surrounding areas.”

Mr Melvin remarks “I am delighted to announce my decision to join Harcourts Pinnacle, a company that mirrors my values of integrity and prioritizing customer satisfaction.

I am eager to contribute my experience and expertise to the Harcourts Pinnacle team, while continuing to serve the Mango Hill community with the enhanced support that Harcourts offers.

Mango Hill presents a vibrant community with significant growth potential, making it an exceptionally exciting area to assist my clients.”

Mike Melvin and the Harcourts Pinnacle team are here to help you with your real estate journey.

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Harcourts Pinnacle proudly recognises our team members for their achievements awarded at our Queensland Annual Ceremony.

The Property management team received the #1 Award for Residential Property Management Excellence, our first time to achieve this accolade. The team are regularly seeking out feedback and using this to provide an even better service.

The Commercial team under our NAI Harcourts banner achieved #1 Commercial Office under the leadership of Phil Grant. In the Commercial space, the team has been going from strength to strength and has now expanded to a team of 10.

And the Residential sales team achieved #5 in Residential Sales. The residential award was made from so many great contributions from our team members with many receiving individual accolades on the evening as well.

Congratulations to our team members for all of your hard work and to all of our customers for entrusting us to look after their property needs.

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Creating a WOW experience

Our goal for 2023 that we have already begun practicing is for each and all our team members to try to identify opportunities where we can create wow experiences for not only our clients but people that we come across in our day-to-day life. For us a WOW is any moment that we could create for our client that is unexpected and beyond our day-to-day duties that makes the other person feel WOW’ ed and made to feel special. It could be as simple as making a call to check up on someone, delivering flowers to celebrate an important occasion or helping someone physically.

Market Update

Despite all the negative press that you might have read in the news about the impact of rate rises, our figures based on buyer enquiry level and feedback have indicated otherwise. We are seeing that the property market remains very active and buyer enquiry is strong and in fact we are seeing multiple offers on most properties that we are selling. The good news is, that even though we are in a changing market where the market has adjusted significantly since the peak (start of 2022), prices at the moment seem to have stabilised and we are no longer seeing any significant price drops for most areas. However, we are still seeing the properties that require renovations or that are not in ideal locations (i.e., on a main road) spending a longer period of time on the market.

What is the initial forecast for 2023?

After recently reading an article by the ABC, it gave an interesting share and possibility for what is to come this year in terms of rate rises and house prices. Recent inflation figures have come in higher than expected which is not great news as this could almost cement a few more rate rises. There is a possibility by the time you read this letter we could have had another rate rise. Some economist believe that we will see a couple more rates rise that are likely to peak at a cash rate of 3.6% and in the second half of 2023 there is a good chance that the RBA could begin to reserve rate hikes if growth does slow and inflation eases as expected. Potentially if rates begin to decrease, buyers’ abilities to loan will increase and so will their confidence, which is likely to translate into growth in the property market. It is also important to note that the growth we saw from 2020 was unprecedented and we are not likely to see that rate of growth again for a long time.

Quick explanation of inflation and rate rises

Just a very basic understanding as we often have clients asking us about how inflation and rate rise is connected. In a simple explanation, the reserve bank raises the interest rates to get Australians to spend less, as the more Australians spend the higher the inflation rate becomes and in return the RBA is forced to increase rates where it will directly impact majority of Australia (via loan repayment) that eventually will reduce spending. The idea behind this is to get inflation to its target rate of 2-3%, whereas currently it sits at 7.8%.

As always please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any further questions or if you require any advice. Our team is able to help with advice on upgrading, downgrading, buying investments, valuation and property management in both residential and the commercial space. We also pride ourself on providing advice on property renovations and any recommendation for trades to use. We want to be the first point of contact if you ever have any questions or require advice about anything real estate.

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How has the interest rate rise effected the market so far?

Since the rate rise, some of our current buyers’ maximum borrowing capacity has been reduced. For example, we have a client who, prior to the rate rise, had a pre-approval for a purchase up to $700,000. However, when they re-applied with the same bank after the rate rise, they were told they could only spend up to $550,000. This is one of many stories that we have heard over the past month. Many buyers are now having to either look further away from the city to be able to purchase or look at cheaper options, such as townhouses or units to maintain the lifestyle or location they’ve become accustomed to.

We are finding that prices are still strong and holding. There has been no sign of any major drops, in fact, many houses that we are selling are still achieving higher prices compared to the start of the year. What we are now finding is that homes are taking longer to sell and buyers are in less of a hurry to make an offer.

Townhouses are currently the star performers due to the price point and affordability level. We are getting incredible interest, with multiple offers on all townhouses we have recently sold and in fact, they are selling at prices significantly above many other recent sales. We believe townhouses and even units will continue to stay strong as buyers remain steadfast on wanting to enter the property market and buying anything that fits their budget.

What are the potential changes with the new Federal government?

Below is a summary of some of the policies to be implemented by the new government (please do your own research to confirm details):

• A new “Help to Buy” scheme, involving an equity contribution from the Federal Government of up to a maximum of 40 per cent of the purchase price of a new home (and up to a maximum of 30 per cent of the purchase price for an existing home) for 10,000 Australians each financial year.
• A Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme, which will provide a government guarantee of up to 15 per cent for eligible first home buyers, so that locals with a 5 per cent deposit can avoid paying mortgage insurance.
• A $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which will build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties in its first five years.
• The provision of $200 million from the Housing Australia Future Fund for repair, maintenance, and improvement of remote housing in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
• The establishment of a National Housing Supply and Affordability Council that will set targets for land supply (in consultation with State and Territory Governments) and advise on ways to improve land use, planning and supply for housing, This Council will also collect “nationally consistent data” on housing supply, demand and affordability, report on rental affordability, social housing, and homelessness and advise on ways to boost the construction of social and affordable housing.

Choosing your agent in a changing market

Over the past 18 months, while the housing market was the hottest that we have seen in multiple decades, we have seen a significant increase of new agents enter the industry. The truth is that in the recent market conditions, any agent can sell a property due to the rate of the rising market. Even when a more experienced or a “gun” agent might be getting higher results, it is harder for potential sellers to see the difference and they often make their decision based on the least amount of apparent costs (i.e. commission and marketing) and in many cases, with the agent that promised them the highest price. However, as the market slows and is changing into a more “normal” market, having the right agent with the best ability to negotiate is the key in ensuring you are getting the best results. Here are some tips when it comes to choosing the agent that will deliver the best result:

• When are you interviewing the agent ask them questions like: how long have they been in the industry? How many properties have they sold in the past 12 months? How many properties have they recently sold in the same suburb as your home?
• Use websites like www.ratemyagent.com.au to research the agent. Rate My Agent is an independent 3rd party site that tracks how many properties an agent has sold in the past 12 months, how many properties they have sold in any specific suburb, as well as the agent’s latest client reviews.
• Consider how fast and effective has their communication been up to the point of meeting. For example, our team prides ourselves on replying to 95% of email within 30min regardless of whether it’s a Sunday or Public Holiday and all calls are to be returned as soon as you are out of meeting if we do miss a call.
• Do not focus only on commission, but focus on who will get you the best result. For example, for a $800,000 home the difference between 0.5% in commission is $4000, but the difference when it comes to negotiation is often the different in multiples of $10,000. Go with your gut on who will get you the most in your pocket after all costs.
• In some cases, neighbours or friends may have been watching the market over a number of years and may actually be able to tell you a few pros and cons with many of the agents you’re considering…things that if you’ve only just started looking, you may not have seen…yet.

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