Three agents. Same property. Appraisals that differ by $40,000 to $60,000. It happens more often than vendors expect, and when it does the instinct is to assume someone is wrong. Usually no one is. Appraisal is interpretation, and interpretation produces a range of legitimate conclusions from the same evidence.This is the moment that confus… Read More

There is an irony at the centre of how first home buyers use property data. The buyers who rely most heavily on suburb medians to make their decisions are typically researching the suburbs where those medians are least reliable.The median for an affordable outer suburb and the median for a high-volume inner suburb look the same in a data ta… Read More

Most people decide to sell before they know what selling actually costs.The decision comes first - prompted by a life change, a market update, a conversation with a neighbour who just sold well. The emotional commitment is made. Then, somewhere between signing the agency agreement and settlement day, the full cost of the transaction reveals… Read More

Adelaide house prices are reported, compared, and debated as though the median were a precise instrument. It is not. The median measures what sold - not what properties are worth. Those two things only align when the mix of properties selling stays consistent, and in most suburbs it does not stay consistent for long.It rarely does.… Read More

The gap between the lowest and highest appraisal on the same property is rarely small. Thirty thousand dollars. Fifty thousand. Sometimes more. And all three agents, when asked to explain their number, can point to comparable sales and adjustments that make their conclusion sound defensible. Which it often is.This is the moment that confuse… Read More