What is an OFI?
An “Open for Inspection” (OFI) is a time when buyers can come to view a property that has been advertised for sale. The alternative to an OFI is to arrange an appointment to view the property at a time suitable to the owner, agent and buyer.
What’s the Big Deal?
The percentage of properties listed for sale with an OFI, indicates the nature of supply & demand for property. If demand is high relative to supply, then prices should rise. That’s important for investors pursuing capital growth.
How OFI shows Supply & Demand
What’s a Good % OFI?
The following infographic shows an extreme case of high OFI.
You can see the average % OFI nationwide at the moment is around 60%. But units for sale in Artarmon all have open inspections, 100%.
Culture
But in another part of the country, the procedures of agents may be very different. So, a better approach might be to watch the…
Change in OFI
The following chart shows how the national OFI has changed recently.
Perth has had the biggest increase in percentage terms…
Despite how high Canberra – Queanbeyan’s OFI was 18 months ago, it’s still risen noticeably.
Warning
The % OFI is only one way to read a suburb’s supply and demand. There are many more, like: auction clearance rates, selling speed, discounting, neighbour price balancing, market cycle timing, etc. Don’t rely completely on only one metric. The true power comes from combining many metrics to find suburbs with the best demand relative to supply.
