The Australian real estate market is facing its highest interest rates in years, and the impact is undeniable. Sales volumes are dropping, days on market are extending, and many agencies are feeling the pressure. But here’s what’s interesting—some agencies aren’t just surviving; they’re absolutely thriving.

High interest rates create a fundamental leadership test. How you communicate with your team during these challenging times determines whether your business grows or shrinks.

The reality is stark: when market conditions tighten, businesses without proper systems go backwards fast. Meanwhile, agencies with robust systems leap forward, capturing market share from their struggling competitors.

Consider this perspective-shifting question: if your current market share is 20%, that means 8 out of every 10 homes are still being sold by your competition. There’s more than enough volume out there—the difference lies in having sufficient systems to capture it.

Many property owners are still anchored to those 2021 price expectations. As a real estate agent coach, I’ve observed this pattern consistently: any property owner coming to market might not know what their home’s worth, but they definitely know what they want.

These are two completely different figures.

The skill lies in having the right systems to guide vendors toward market reality. Historical data shows that across Australia, the best prices for any property are typically achieved within the first 30 days of being on market.

Understanding how buyers communicate about price is crucial for vendor education. There’s a critical distinction that most agents miss:

Opinion vs. Preparedness to Pay

When a buyer walks through an open home and hands back the brochure with little interest, then later gives you their “thoughts” on price—that’s just an opinion. It’s not genuine market feedback because they’re not actually prepared to move forward.

Vendors need to understand this difference, especially in challenging market conditions.

Through working with hundreds of real estate businesses, I’ve identified a predictable pattern. Vendors typically experience three emotional stages before accepting market reality:

1. Disregard: They’ll completely dismiss the first offer that seems off the mark
2. Blame: The second offer triggers blame—toward the agent, the market, or external factors
3. Acceptance: Only with the third offer do vendors generally start accepting where the market actually sits

The key insight: The faster you can guide vendors to that third emotion (acceptance), the better price outcome they’ll achieve.

The agencies that are winning right now aren’t necessarily doing anything revolutionary. They’re simply implementing consistent systems that work regardless of market conditions.

These systems focus on:

• Controlling days on market through efficient processes
• Educating vendors on buyer behaviour and market reality
• Having frameworks to manage vendor expectations throughout campaigns
• Capturing and converting market share while competitors struggle

High interest rates and challenging market conditions aren’t going anywhere soon. The question is: will your agency be one that struggles with the changes, or will you be one that uses this time to build market share?

The difference lies in having the right systems and frameworks in place.