McCartney rides steady market to early sales milestone

MCCARTNEY Real Estate is celebrating a strong year in the local property market, with its 2025–26 sales already surpassing last year’s total ahead of the financial year’s end.

The agency has sold 77 properties so far in 2026 and 197 across the 2025–26 financial year, eight more than in 2024–25.

This year’s figures include a median sale price of $1.16 million and a median of 61 days on market.

“It’s certainly been up and down like no other year, but statistically, it seems to be that things are moving really well in that $900,000 to $1.4 million price point,” McCartney Real Estate director and owner Tim Carson said.

The biggest sales this year include 24 Wentworth Court for $2.21 million and 2 Charles Lane for $2.2 million.

Both of these were surpassed by the recent sale of 12 The Esplanade, Torquay, a vacant block with views over the ocean, for more than $4.6 million.

Carson said this was a great result for McCartney.

“We were going on the market for $4.4 [million] to $4.6 [million], and it sold over the range before going to market,” he said.

He said the increased sales for 2025–26 compared to 2024–25 could be attributed to several factors.

“We are seeing a lot of investors and holiday-makers cashing out of the market,” Carson said.

“It has been driven by owner-occupiers coming in through the First Home Owner Grant, which came in about October. We started seeing things improve then.”

Carson said McCartney’s strategic approach had also played a key role.

“We have been the number one listing and selling agent in the town for the last 12 years,” he said. “We do the most open for inspections, we see the most people, so for us, we feel as though we’re giving all of our owners the best opportunity to sell their place.

“It is a patient market, but one thing we do pride ourselves on is communication, honesty and feedback, and we ensure all of our team are touching base with all our vendors regularly and following up every lead.”

Co-director Brent Hartigan said recent investment in the team was also paying dividends.

“We’ve put some time into our people and we’ve got some really good experience now,” he said.

“We’ve just added Nick Kearsey, who’s been in real estate for 12 years, and we’ve put extra time and effort into our marketing, so we’re exposing properties for our clients.

“It’s hard work, but it’s hard work that pays off, and we’re really looking forward to what the future brings.”