By Wes

I checked the weather last night before packing my gym bag and saw 20 degrees. To me that means temperamental weather. Maybe a hoodie. Maybe a light jersey. Something that says “prepared” and “mature adult making sensible choices”.

Yet here I am at 11am sweating through my soul.

Part of my nightly routine is packing my gym bag with what I’m going to wear the next day because I leave home somewhere between 5:30 and 6am and at that hour I should not be trusted with decision making. I barely trust myself to operate a toaster before sunrise, let alone plan an outfit. So I commit the night before. Gym clothes packed. Laptop bag by the door. Water bottle filled. Life sorted.

Except life likes to freestyle.

You leave the house expecting a chilly winter morning and by lunchtime you’re roasting while running between cars, offices and show houses wondering why you dressed like you’re headed for a light Everest expedition.

The smarter move would probably be layers. Something adaptable. Something that gives you options once reality starts doing its own thing.

And honestly I think the property market feels a bit like that right now.

Everybody is preparing for the apocalypse. Buyers are nervous. Sellers are cautious. Economists are out there throwing around predictions like they’re casting spells. Interest rates, inflation, confidence, elections, stock markets, global instability. We are all packing emotional jerseys for weather that may or may not arrive.

Now to be fair, there has absolutely been a shift. Anyone pretending otherwise is either delusional or trying to sell you a waterfront plot in Atlantis. Certain parts of the market have slowed, buyers are more considered and speculative buying has become significantly less sexy than it was a few years ago when people were buying property like limited-edition sneakers.

But there are still plenty of people transacting.

There are buyers who sold larger homes and are sitting comfortably cashed up. There are first-time buyers who worked out budgets they can actually afford even at current interest rates. There are families relocating because life happens whether the market is booming or not. Divorce still exists. Babies still arrive. Job transfers still happen. People still wake up and realise they desperately need a home office because they can no longer work from the kitchen counter while a Labrador eats Uber Eats deliveries at the gate.

The point is preparing for the worst is sensible. Paralysis is not.

Like my disastrous weather planning, it’s okay to prepare cautiously while still leaving room to adapt once the day actually unfolds. If the right property appears and it fits your life and your finances, then it may still make complete sense to move. Equally, if you’re selling because your life requires it, there are buyers out there. Serious ones.

And yes, I know this sounds suspiciously like a real estate agent trying to convince people to transact in a tougher market. I get it. But there is a massive difference between reckless speculative buying and normal life continuing. One is gambling. The other is people simply getting on with things.

Maybe the market right now does not need panic or blind optimism.

Maybe it just needs layers.