Now could be your window of opportunity

Emma Kennedy

5 days ago

4 min read

THE MARKET IS MOVING

NOW COULD BE YOUR WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

There’s a noticeable shift happening in the Brisbane property market.

After a period of hesitation, buyers are slowly becoming more confident again. But the interesting thing about property is that by the time everyone feels confident, the opportunity often looks very different.

Historically, January brings a fresh wave of activity to the property market.

People spend the Christmas break talking about their plans. They make New Year’s resolutions. They sit down with their partners and families and decide that this is the year they’re going to buy, upgrade, invest or make a move.

Then January arrives, and those conversations start turning into action.

We saw exactly this happen in Brisbane at the beginning of 2026, when buyer activity came out of the gates strongly and some open homes recorded more than double the usual post-Christmas numbers.

That’s why, if you’re considering buying, the opportunity may be in acting before the competition returns - rather than waiting until it does.

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Don't let interest rates make the decision for you:

Interest rates are important. They affect borrowing capacity, repayments and ultimately what you can afford.

But they shouldn't necessarily determine whether you buy the right property.

Ask 10 people on the street what their current home loan interest rate is, and I’d almost guarantee most couldn’t tell you accurately without checking.

WHY?

Because people don't buy a property for the interest rate they have today.

They buy a property because it works for their finances, their lifestyle, their family or their investment strategy.

If you're buying a property with the intention of holding it for 5, 10 or even 20 years, today's interest rate is simply one point in a much longer ownership timeline.

Rates will rise.

Rates will fall.

They will ALSO change multiple times throughout the period you own the property.

What matters far more is whether the property itself is right, the price is right and the purchase is financially comfortable for you.

That doesn't mean ignoring interest rates or overextending yourself. Quite the opposite.

It means understanding your financial position properly, knowing what you can comfortably afford and then making decisions based on that, rather than allowing uncertainty around future rate movements to stop you from buying altogether.

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The last 10 years are a good reminder:

Brisbane's property market has already shown us why trying to perfectly time interest rates can be difficult.

In 2020 and 2021, interest rates were at historic lows. The RBA cash rate sat at just 0.10%, and Brisbane house prices surged. By December 2021, the median Brisbane house price had reached approximately $792,000, up 25.7% over the year.

Then rates began rising rapidly.

By December 2022, the cash rate had climbed to 3.10%, and Brisbane house prices had fallen approximately 6.6% from their June peak.

It would have been easy at that point to assume that higher rates meant property prices would continue falling.

They didn't.

Brisbane's market recovered, and despite interest rates remaining significantly higher than they had been during the pandemic, prices continued climbing.

By December 2025, Brisbane's median house price had reached approximately $1.17 million, a record at the time and more than $370,000 above the December 2021 median.

The takeaway isn't that interest rates don't matter.

They do.

The takeaway is that interest rates are only one part of the property equation.

Supply, demand, population growth, employment, borrowing capacity, buyer confidence and competition all play a role.

And these factors don't move in perfect sync with interest rates.

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We don't expect this window to stay open forever.

The opportunity is often when confidence is lowest

This is where we think buyers need to be particularly strategic.

When everyone is confident, everyone is looking.

When everyone is looking, good properties attract multiple buyers.

Multiple buyers create competition.

Competition creates stronger prices and, often, less favourable negotiating conditions.

The opposite can also be true.

When buyers are hesitant, there can be opportunities to negotiate that simply aren't available when the market is crowded.

At the moment, we're seeing a market where buyers can be selective and strategic.

That's valuable.

Because once the broader market becomes confident again, particularly as we move into the new year, the landscape can change quickly.

So, should you buy now?

Not simply because we tell you to.

And certainly not if the numbers don't stack up.

But if you've been waiting for the "perfect" combination of lower interest rates, falling prices, more stock and no competition, you may be waiting for a set of circumstances that rarely exists.

Instead...

Understand your financial position
Know your comfortable buying range
Understand what you actually want to buy.

And then look at the market through the lens of opportunity rather than uncertainty.

Because the goal isn't to buy at the absolute bottom.

Nobody knows exactly when that is.

The goal is to buy a good property, at a good price, with terms that work for you, at a time when you have the ability to negotiate.

And right now, that is worth paying attention to.

If buying property is on your agenda for 2027, don't wait until January to start thinking about it.

BUY WITH STRATEGY, NOT GUESSWORK

Start now.

The buyers who begin their search before everyone else returns to the market are often the ones who are best positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that come with it.

Our job is to identify those opportunities, uncover properties that others aren't seeing, understand where the real value sits and negotiate hard enough to ensure our clients aren't unnecessarily spending every dollar of their budget.

Because buying well isn't about simply finding a house you love.

It's about knowing what it's worth, knowing what the seller will accept, and knowing when to act.

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