🏆 Easy markets sell homes - tough markets build careers

GOOD MORNING FROM ELITE AGENT 👋

TRUE OR FALSE?

One of Double Bay’s top agents just closed the most exclusive deal of his career, taking himself permanently off the market for a priceless Ruby.
(Scroll to the bottom for the answer!)

In today’s edition of The Brief

• Easy markets sell homes - tough markets build careers

• Perth market slows as selling times double and listings rise

• China property management fee collection crisis

Today’s read time: 6 minutes, 20 seconds

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MINDSET

Why difficult markets build the agents who last

The agents who've seen it all before aren't panicking. They've watched markets turn, seen colleagues leave, and come out stronger and with nearly three decades across every facet of real estate, Danny Grant's message to agents navigating current conditions is that the story you tell yourself about this market will determine which side of it you finish on.

Many agents entered during years of rising prices and strong clearance rates, an environment that rewarded responsiveness over skill. "A hard market really does reveal weak agents and their processes," he says. But Danny's point is that most agents are misreading the baseline. What feels like a downturn may be closer to normal than the last few years were.

When he works with agents, his entry point surprises them. It isn't scripts or prospecting volume. "They don't have the mindset of 'I'm running a business.' They have a mindset of 'I've got a GCI target.'"

That distinction, he argues, is where busy markets create invisible gaps, and where difficult ones expose them; his approach to reverse-engineering success from that point reveals what agents rarely see when conditions are forgiving.

What you'll learn in the full article:

• The communication gap: What to say to vendors when nothing's happened – and why texting price reductions is career poison

• The standards audit: How to spot the gaps that even top agents develop when markets are busy

• The inner marketplace: Managing what's between your ears when external conditions are beyond your control

• The trust premium: Why this market rewards conviction – and how to demonstrate it

The agents who treat this period as a training ground won't just survive. They'll emerge with skills and market position that carry them through whatever comes next.

Read the full article

ICYMI, yesterday - ‘why the market is holding its breath’.

MARKET

Housing sales slip 6% but momentum holds

The pullback many predicted hasn't materialised as Ray White's May data shows national sales values down just 6% year-on-year, with month-on-month figures up 6% to $6.25 billion. “One of the biggest surprises in the market right now is how resilient it has become,” said Thomas McGlynn, CEO – Performance and Value at Ray White.

WA NEWS

Perth selling times double but prices keep climbing

Houses now take 14 days to sell versus nine in February – yet the median price still pushed 2.2% higher to $920,000 in May. Listings topped 5,000 for the first time since November 2024, giving buyers more choice as three rate rises make them pickier. REIWA President Suzanne Brown is clear this isn't a downturn – just a shift toward balance.

INTERNATIONAL

China's property crisis spreads to PM firms

Fee collection rates among China's top 500 property management firms have dropped from 89% in 2021 to just 71% last year – and 2025 is tracking worse. As homeowners withhold payments on depreciating assets, management companies are withdrawing from developments, leaving residents without security, waste collection, and maintenance.

HOW IT SOLD

Four offers in 16 days sees Cessnock brick home sell $62k above median

A 2-bedroom brick home at 26 Ferguson Street, Cessnock sold for $635,000 after a 16-day private treaty campaign launched strategically before a long weekend generated four competitive offers. Bryce Gibson of LJ Hooker Cessnock ran a highest-and-best process with a set deadline, with a local owner-occupier emerging as the successful buyer in a result that came sooner than the vendors had anticipated.

Agents across Australia and New Zealand are turning sales into stories. getailsa.com

CELEBRITY HOMES

Buffy star lists Brentwood home for US$10.5 million

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. are saying goodbye to their Brentwood estate after 13 years. The couple, who met on the set of cult-hit I Know What You Did Last Summer, bought the Hamptons-style home for $US6.1 million in 2013.

MOVERS + SHAKERS

Brisbane couple launch boutique buyer's agency

Former retail business owners Denise and Murray Golding have completed six transactions since March with their coaching-led boutique agency BAWT. More here.

Sotheby's International Realty opens first Canberra office

Alexander Smout leads the new Canberra office, the brand’s first in the capital and its exclusive Sotheby’s affiliate for Canberra and surrounds. More here.

Success doesn’t rest on weekends! 
Get the latest on top agent and agency moves every Sunday with our weekly roundup in Movers & Shakers. Subscribe now.

AGENTS ON SOCIAL

Real estate agents have seen it all! Buyers opening every cupboard like they’re defusing a bomb, knocking on walls like they’re checking for hidden treasure, and flushing toilets like it’s a stress test. If there’s a surface, someone will inspect it.

Seen an Agent On Social we should include? Let us know here (email link)

TRUE OR FALSE:

One of Double Bay’s top agents just closed the most exclusive deal of his career, taking himself permanently off the market for a priceless Ruby.

And the answer is … 💍

IT’S TRUE. Apologies for the early morning PDA, but it seems congratulations are in order for Gavin Rubinstein and fiancée Ruby Adler. We feel like there’s a certain ring to Ruby Rubinstein… (see what we did there!)

Wishing you a productive day!

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