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Home › Sell Property › How Long Does It Take To Sell A Property?
Selling a property can be both exciting and nerve-wracking especially if it’s your first time. You might be wondering how long it will take before that “Sold” sticker finally goes up.
While most homes in Australia take around 30 days to sell once they’re listed, that number only tells part of the story. The entire process from deciding to sell, preparing your property, finding a buyer, and finally settling can take three to six months on average.
Let’s break down what affects how long it takes to sell a property, the typical timeline across each state, and how you can make the process faster and smoother.
Key Takeaways The average Australian property sells in around 30 days, but the full process usually takes 3–6 months. Metro homes sell faster than regional ones due to stronger demand. Your sale method, pricing strategy, and presentation heavily influence speed. A skilled local agent can drastically reduce time on market. Good marketing and home styling lead to faster, higher-value sales.
Key Takeaways
Quick Tip: The right real estate agent can shorten your selling time by weeks. Compare top local agents now to see who sells fastest in your suburb.
According to Cotality’s 2025 Housing Market Update, the national average days on market is approximately 30 days, down from 49 days in 2020. However, this figure varies depending on location, demand, and property type.
(Sources: CoreLogic, Domain, and ABS housing data 2025)
Generally, homes in metro areas sell faster than those in regional towns due to higher buyer demand, proximity to jobs, and limited housing supply. Houses also tend to sell faster than apartments, especially in family-friendly suburbs.
Many sellers assume the “days on market” starts the moment they decide to sell but that’s not the case. In reality, the entire journey can take 12–24 weeks, depending on preparation, marketing, and negotiations. Here’s a typical breakdown:
Listing might only take a month to sell, but the full process often spans three to six months from start to finish.
Putting your property on the market is only one part of the selling process – often the shortest part. The process begins when you make the decision to sell your property. From there, you will need to:
The time it takes to complete this entire process is much longer than 30 days, and it can vary dramatically. At each step of the process, you can make choices that give you the best chance of selling quickly and for the best price.
Your agent is your biggest asset when it comes to selling quickly. A good agent will:
Take time to interview at least two or three agents. Look at their past sales, reviews, and average days on market.
Once you’ve chosen an agent, they can
Your agent will help you decide some key elements of your sales plan. These include:
The method of sale will affect how long it takes to sell a property. You can choose between:
An auction campaign generally lasts 4–6 weeks. During this time, your agent will show the property to hot buyers and encourage plenty of interest to create a competitive environment leading up to the auction.
Agents usually encourage conditional offers during the auction campaign, but it is unusual for sellers to accept one of these offers. Rather, the offers allow the agent and seller to set a reserve price based on what buyers are willing to pay.
Buyers are aware of the auction date, which provides a deadline for them to act. A good agent will use the competitive environment to persuade buyers to submit their best offers, which lets you know what to expect on auction day. By auction day, the added level of competition should help you get the best price for your property.
A fixed sale method is referred to as a private treaty. Without the excitement of an auction to drive up the price, you will need to set a price that accurately reflects the value of your property. Your agent will then:
It is very difficult to predict the likely time frame with this method of sale because buyers do not feel the same urgency to act as they do with the auction process. The timeframe will be determined by:
It could take anywhere from a weekend to a few months to find the right buyer to successfully sell a property by private treaty.
On occasion, property listings can become stale as the property sits on the market without a successful sale. In these cases, it’s a good idea to take your property off the market and relist it later. Read more about relisting here.
These two methods of sale are similar. They act like a closed, silent auction, where interested buyers submit their best offers by a set date. Unlike an auction, buyers are completely unaware of what other buyers have offered or how much competition exists.
After the closing date, the agent and seller will discuss the offers and either reject, accept or negotiate with buyers. Offers must:
The time it takes to sell a property via these methods is pre-determined by the closing date – providing you receive an acceptable offer. This could be anywhere from 4–6 weeks.
This sale method suits high-end properties more than other property types.
With all methods of sale, the agent will keep you informed about buyer interest throughout the campaign, which will allow you to gauge how long it might take.
Your agent will also help you set a listing price based on the true value of your property. They should provide you with a comparative market analysis, which compares recent sales similar to your property.
It’s imperative to set the right price before listing your property to sell. Too high and you risk disappointing buyers on inspection; too low and you risk selling below the true value of your home.
Knowing the target market can help sell a property faster. A quality agent will discuss the location, features and value of your property to help you determine who your target market is. For example, families or singles. Once you know this, you can prepare the property with this in mind and aim your marketing efforts at the right buyers.
A quality real estate agent understands the importance of an effective, tailored marketing campaign. Once you know your method of sale, price and target market, your agent can use these to formulate the best marketing campaign to sell your property quickly.
These are only some of the elements involved in reaching an agreement with your agent. This process can take time, so it’s crucial to find an agent who knows how to streamline the process to reduce the overall time it takes to sell a property.
Once you have a plan to sell your property, it’s time to prepare it for sale. Your agent can help you decide how much time and money to spend on improving your home. As a minimum, you should:
To sell a property fast, some sellers spend extra on professional photography, minor or major renovations and home styling. Read more about preparing your property in our handy selling guide.
A quality agent will have built solid relationships with a team of industry professionals who can help you prepare your home. For example, tradespeople, photographers, stylers, landscapers, etc.
The time it takes to prepare a property to sell varies depending on the work involved. It can range from weeks to months, so it’s essential to have a plan in place to ensure the work is done to schedule.
Once your home is ready, your agent will launch the marketing campaign by putting your property on the market to sell. Your chosen method of sale will determine how long the property is expected to remain on the market.
As mentioned, the average time on market is currently 30 days. However, this fluctuates over time depending on market conditions and property specific factors such as presentation and the asking price. It also varies by state and territory and time of year.
A successful marketing campaign should bring you plenty of offers or plenty of buyers eager to bid at auction, depending on your method of sale. If you receive an acceptable offer, your lawyer will prepare the legal sales contract and your agent will ensure both you and the buyer sign it.
If you sell at auction, you and the buyer will sign the sale contract on the day. Sale contracts at auction are always unconditional.
The process of choosing a buyer and signing the contract could take a few days to a couple of weeks. If a conditional sale falls through, you will lose time as the other interested buyers may since have purchased a property or may no longer be interested.
Most private treaty sales contracts are conditional on the buyer receiving finance. The buyer can also request other conditions, like a building and pest inspection. These conditions add time to how long it will take to sell a property. Once all conditions are met, the contract goes unconditional and the settlement period begins.
Finance clauses usually give 14–21 days for finance approval. Building and pest inspections can be anywhere from 7 to 14 days. However, these timeframes are negotiable so they can vary.
The settlement period begins when you and the buyer sign the sales contract and ends on settlement day. This period is usually 30 to 90 days, depending on what the seller and buyer agree on.
The last step of the process to sell a property is settlement. This is when all outstanding money is paid to the appropriate recipients and the buyer receives the keys. You will receive the funds from the sale on the day of settlement.
This happens on the last day of the settlement period. Read more about the settlement process here.
The total sales process can take 3–6 months, depending on the above factors. By being aware of the elements involved in a successful sale, you can make proactive choices to streamline the process. A good real estate agent can guide you through the process and connect you with hot buyers to get a quick sale.
Compare agents in your local area to see how they can help get the best price fast.
About 30 days on market nationally, according to CoreLogic, but the total process (including preparation and settlement) takes around 3–6 months.
It depends on price, location, presentation, and demand. Well-priced, well-presented homes in sought-after suburbs often sell within days.
Sydney homes average 27–30 days, while regional NSW properties can take 45–60 days due to smaller buyer pools.
