Sat through eight listing appointments this week across the inner west, lower north shore, and a couple in the eastern suburbs. The conversation in vendors’ kitchens in mid-May 2026 is more sophisticated than it was twelve months ago, and the pricing conversation is tighter in both directions.

Three threads keep showing up.

The first one is that vendors are arriving at the listing appointment with their own auction clearance and median number from REA’s or Domain’s app. They have read the price guide on three comparable listings and they have a view on whether their property is worth the top of the range, the middle, or the bottom. The agent who walks in without doing more granular work than that is being asked to leave. The agents winning these listings are coming in with a comparable evidence pack that goes deeper than the apps — specifically with on-market versus off-market splits, days-on-market by price quartile in the actual sub-market, and a vendor-discount average for the last 90 days in their immediate competition set.

The second thread is that vendors are noticeably more open to a longer campaign than they were in late 2025. The four-week auction campaign isn’t being insisted on anymore. Vendors who would have refused a private treaty conversation a year ago are willing to look at it now. The reasons vary — some are watching the auction crowds in their pocket, some have neighbours who passed in, some just don’t want the public failure if it doesn’t sell on the day. The agent who can present a hybrid campaign — strong four-week marketing into auction with a clean pivot to negotiation if it makes sense at week three — is doing well.

The third one is the marketing budget conversation. Vendor-paid advertising budgets have been the most contested line in the listing appointment for two years. In mid-May 2026 the conversation has narrowed. Vendors will spend on the things they can see in their REA dashboard and on the photographer and the styling. They will not spend on the print and the static signage like they used to. The smart marketing recommendation in this market is a tight, evidence-defensible package — premium REA placement, premium Domain placement, professional photography, video, and styling. The agents getting a vendor to sign for $9,000–$14,000 are doing it with that kind of package, not a $22,000 traditional spend.

A couple of softer notes from the week:

Vendors are asking about AI listing description tools by name. ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are in the vendor’s vocabulary now. They are asking the agent to use these tools and they expect the agent to have a view on which tools the agency uses for what. The agent who can describe their AI listing workflow — without overselling it — sounds more current to the vendor than the agent who hasn’t thought about it.

Vendors are still anxious about the off-market versus on-market call. The proportion of properties trading off-market through buyer’s agents has stabilised in the inner east and inner west but is still above the long-run average. Vendors with a unique property are asking for a controlled off-market period of two weeks before the on-market campaign. That conversation needs evidence — the agent who can show three recent off-market clearances at strong prices in the same sub-market is taking the listing more often than the one who can’t.

The other quiet observation from the week is that buyers are showing up at every Saturday open with a phone full of saved comparables. Buyer preparation is at the highest level I have seen. The vendor expectation should be that the buyer at the negotiation table knows the comparable set as well as the agent does. The campaigns that are pricing into the buyer’s evidence rather than into the vendor’s hope are clearing strongest.

Going into the back end of May, the listing volume looks like it will tick up a little. Several agents I spoke with this week are appraising new stock for early June launches. The advice to vendors deciding whether to list in late May or early June is the same — the right price beats the right week by a long way. The week’s data is not changing the price answer.