Days on market is the number every vendor asks about, even when they pretend not to. In a hot market they want to know how fast the last comparable sold. In a cooling market they want to know whether the last sale was a fluke or a trend. Right now, in Sydney’s autumn 2026 market, I’m having a third version of that conversation: vendors who set their expectations on 2024 figures and are surprised that the world has moved.

What the data is showing

Across the suburbs I work in, average days on market for houses has crept from the low 20s in spring 2025 to the low 30s now. That’s not catastrophic. It’s not the 60-plus days we saw in earlier downturns. But it’s enough to change the campaign rhythm and the conversation about pricing strategy.

Apartments are a slightly different story. In some pockets they’re moving faster than they were six months ago, partly because investor activity has come back and partly because first-home buyers are stretching into apartments where they can’t afford houses. In other pockets they’re sitting longer because of strata insurance issues, defects history, or the broader caution about high-rise.

The variance between suburbs has widened. The headline number for “Sydney” hides this. When I’m talking to a vendor I show them the numbers for their actual postcode and the actual comparable price band, not the citywide average.

The conversation I’m having most often

The conversation that comes up most this autumn is with vendors who saw a neighbour sell in early 2025 with a campaign that lasted twelve days and went well above the price guide. They expect the same campaign to deliver the same outcome. The market has moved on, and the campaign needs to move with it.

The conversation goes something like this. They show me the neighbour’s result. I show them what’s happened to the comparable set since. We talk about the buyer pool — there are fewer buyers at any one open home now than there were a year ago, and the buyers who are turning up are doing more research and moving more slowly. I show them what that means for campaign length, vendor paid advertising, and the price guide.

Most vendors get there. The ones who don’t usually want to test the market at the price they want, which I’ll do, but with explicit conversation about what the test is going to tell us and how we’ll respond.

The price guide is doing more work

The price guide is a more active tool in this market than it was twelve months ago. In a hot market the price guide is almost a formality — the buyers know what the suburb is doing and bid accordingly. In a slower market the price guide is genuinely shaping inquiry levels.

I’ve been watching what happens when a guide is set five percent above where I think the market will land. Inquiry levels drop, open home numbers drop, and the campaign drifts past forty days before we recalibrate. Setting the guide closer to the realistic range gets more bodies through the door and a faster genuine offer.

The vendors who fight this hardest are the ones who think a low guide is “giving the property away.” It isn’t. The buyers do the research. They know what your suburb is doing. The price guide is a signal about how serious the vendor is, not a ceiling.

What the buyer behaviour looks like now

Buyers are spending more time at open homes than they were a year ago. They’re returning for second inspections more often. They’re asking more detailed questions about the strata, the building report, the disclosure documents. The buyer who turns up at the first open home and bids confidently at the auction has not disappeared, but they’re a smaller share of the buyer pool.

This means the campaign needs to account for buyers who need three exposures, not one. Which means open home frequency, mid-campaign communications, and the ability to keep a buyer warm over four or five weeks all matter more.

The number I’m watching

The single number I’m watching most carefully is the median days from first open home to genuine offer, not days on market. Days on market includes the time before launch and the time between offer and exchange. The diagnostic number is how long it’s taking for a campaign to find its buyer once the campaign is live.

That number has stretched. It tells us something about buyer caution and decision speed. It also tells us that vendors who can hold for the full campaign are getting better outcomes than vendors who pre-emptively cut the price at week three.

What I’m telling new vendors

For a vendor coming to market in autumn 2026, the practical advice is straightforward. Plan for a five to six week campaign. Set the guide where the market actually is. Invest in the early-week marketing because the first ten days set the tone. Be patient through weeks three and four — that’s when buyers who saw the first open home come back. Don’t panic and discount in week three.

The vendors who hold their nerve and run a properly planned campaign are still getting strong results. The vendors chasing a 2024 timeline with a 2026 market are the ones who get burnt.