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At the end of each year we like to stick our necks out and make some educated guesses about what we think will happen in the world of real estate during the next 12 months. After doing reasonably well on our real estate marketing predictions for 2016, we’re feeling pretty confident. Here’s what we’re forecasting for 2017.

Real estate marketing trends for 2017; interest rates, foreign buyers, changes in the Sydney market and more.

REA vs Domain
We see two camps forming here: REA/News Limited, and Domain/Fairfax. By bulking up technology and cross selling products, it will become increasingly difficult to afford to advertise on both platforms. Agents are going to be pressured to make a choice about whether they spend their advertising budget on REA or Domain. Costs are only getting higher and the days of using both are numbered.

International Comeback
Regulatory changes made it more difficult for the once-dominant Chinese to buy property in Australia, but we expect that to be a temporary glitch. The Chinese will work through their FIRB, bank loan and cash repatriation issues over the coming months to once again become a solid force in the inner city market in 2017.

Interest Rates
The thing about something hitting a ‘record low’ is that, eventually, it has to start going back up again. It seems likely that the RBA will start raising rates in 2017, which will pose a challenge to property price appreciation.

Social VPA
2017 will be the year of Facebook and Google Vendor Paid Advertising, with agents increasingly incorporating options to advertise specific properties on these channels into their advertising schedules. This is a trend we only see becoming more prevalent.

Sydney Shakeup
The Sydney market will experience serious disruption in 2017. There will be significant movement among agents, and likely a few new brands entering an already competitive marketplace.

Fighting Lead Generators
Agents will aggressively step up the fight against lead generators next year. Many of our clients are concerned about lead generators eroding agency profit margins after helping themselves to a healthy slice of the commision – something they’re often not transparent about with vendors. Many agencies will redouble their focus creating strong brand recognition and building relationships with customers before lead generation companies can get to them.

LJ Hooker IPO
If this is going to happen, 2017 will be the year. However, given the challenging trading conditions experienced by McGrath, we’d say this IPO is unlikely to occur at all.

Print Finishes
Continual advances in technology mean that high end finishes are more practical and affordable than ever before. In 2017, we’re expecting that variable data foiling and short run spot UV and foil will become the new norm. That allows our clients to do things like create invitations with individual names in foil, or print small quantities of items with stunning finishes at competitive prices. Top brands are already embracing the possibilities and their competitors will be forced to follow.

Those are our real estate marketing predictions for 2017. Agree? Disagree? Join us on Twitter and let us know what you think.