What could be more demoralising than having your home on the market for months without a buyer? Besides the daily frustration, you may worry that buyers are noticing how long it's been listed.

Whether it's time to worry depends on how long homes like yours usually take to sell in your suburb. Across Australia, homes took a median of 41 days to sell in September 2026 (just under six weeks), up from 26 days a year earlier, according to property data company Cotality. So if your sale is dragging, you're far from alone.

If yours is taking much longer than similar homes nearby, the main things to check are your price, how your home looks to buyers, the marketing, your agent and the timing. A campaign review with your agent is the place to start, and the questions to ask are below.

When should you start worrying?

It's time to act when your home has been listed noticeably longer than similar homes in your suburb, or when buyer interest dries up. Consumer Affairs Victoria warns that keeping a property on the market for a long time can reduce the likely selling price.

To find your benchmark, look at the days on market (the time from listing to sale) for your suburb. Our free property report shows how fast homes around you sell, and our guide to how long it takes to sell a house compares the states.

The number of days matters less than what's behind it. Ask your agent for these figures since your home was listed:

• how many people have enquired
• how many came to inspections, and how many came back for a second look
• any offers, and how far they were from your price
• what buyers said about the price, the features, the condition and the area (a big construction project starting nearby, for example)

Those figures can point you to the likely cause:

• Plenty of inspections but no offers: often the price.
• Few enquiries: buyers may not be finding the listing, or may be skipping it at that price, so look at the marketing and the price.
• Feedback keeps mentioning condition: the presentation.

Is your property not selling because it's priced too high?

If buyers are inspecting but not offering, start with your asking price. Buyers compare your home with others at the same price.

Ask your agent which recent sales their price estimate is based on. Then compare your price with similar homes nearby that have sold, not with homes still for sale.

In Victoria, your agent must take into account the three most comparable recent sales (or one or two, if fewer have sold). In NSW, your agent's estimate should rest on factors such as comparable sales, and the agent must give you the evidence.

If you'd like a second opinion, an independent property valuer can give you one.

If you chose your agent partly because they gave the highest estimate, it's worth checking that figure against the sales. Consumer Affairs Victoria tells sellers not to choose an agent just because they give the highest estimated selling price.

If you end up accepting less than your asking price, that's common at the moment. Cotality's October 2026 figures show capital-city sellers accepted a median of 4.4 per cent less than their first asking price, the biggest discount in five years.

If you lower your price

In some states, the rules shape how it's done:

• NSW: the advertised price can't be below the agent's estimate (the likely selling price in your agency agreement), so the agent revises the estimate in writing, with evidence, and amends your agreement before the ads change.
• Victoria: the advertised price can't be below the agent's estimate, so the agent revises it in writing, with reasons, before the ads change. The advertised price also can't be below your reserve (your lowest acceptable auction price) once you've given it to the agent, or below a written offer you turned down because it was too low.
• South Australia: the advertised price can't be below the higher of the agent's estimate and your price in the agency agreement, so ask your agent what needs to change first.
• Queensland: if you're selling at auction, the agent and auctioneer can't give buyers a price guide or tell them your reserve.

If you're selling at auction, your reserve price is the lowest price you're willing to accept. Here's how to set a reserve price.

Does your home need some freshening up?

If buyers' feedback keeps coming back to condition, put yourself in a buyer's shoes. In a home that looks tired or a little run down, a buyer may be adding up the cost of the jobs as they walk through.

So fix anything that isn't working, from the plumbing to the lights, and especially that sagging garden fence. But don't spend big. This is a cosmetic touch-up: think fresh paint inside, a tidy entrance and a neat garden.

To help you choose, see our list of jobs worth doing before buyers walk through and what you can skip, and what pre-sale repairs cost.

Is your marketing reaching the right buyers?

If few people are enquiring, look at your listing the way a buyer scrolling past would. The photos and the first line of the description decide whether they click.

A few things to check with your agent:

• Photos: are they current and taken in good light? NSW Fair Trading says an old photo is likely to mislead if the property has deteriorated or changed significantly since it was taken, and that agents can't digitally add or remove features.
• The description: does it lead with what makes your home worth inspecting?
• Floor plan and video: does the listing have both, so buyers can picture the layout before they visit?
• Reach: where is the home advertised, and which of those places are bringing enquiries?

A fresh campaign isn't free, so ask what a refresh would include and what it would cost. Our guide to what it costs to advertise a property explains the options.

Do you have an unusual property?

Are you trying to sell a home that doesn't quite fit the mould? Homes with unusual architecture, floor plans or locations can take longer to find their buyer.

Make sure the listing leads with what makes yours different. A video or virtual tour can also reach buyers who are moving from interstate.

Is it your agent?

Your agent should be able to tell you why buyers aren't offering and what they'd change. If you're getting anxious about how long your home has been on the market, ask for a meeting to review the campaign.

Bring the figures from the checklist above, and ask:

• What would you change in the next two weeks, and why?
• Which recent sales are you comparing my home with?
• Would you suggest a new price, a new marketing campaign or a break from the market?

If your agent can't answer those questions with figures, or you aren't hearing back after inspections, it might be time to find another one.

Before you change agents

Check your agency agreement first. It sets how long you've signed up for and how you can end it. You're committed until its end date unless the agreement or your state's law gives you a way out, or your agent agrees to release you.

Some states give you a way out by written notice:

• Queensland: on a sole or exclusive agreement of 60 days or more, with 30 days' notice, though it can't end before day 60 unless you both agree in writing.
• NSW and the ACT: on a fixed term of more than 90 days, with 30 days' notice given after the first 90 days, without penalty.
• Tasmania: at any time.
• South Australia: during an extension of the agreement.

In Victoria, WA and the NT, the law adds no way out, so the agreement's own terms decide. Our guide to agency agreements sets out how to end an agreement in each state.

End your current agreement in writing, in the way it sets out, before you sign with a new agent. If either agreement is sole or exclusive, you may otherwise have to pay both agents commission. Check your current agreement too, or ask a solicitor: could your old agent still claim commission if a buyer they introduced goes on to buy?

When you're free to choose again, you can compare local agents on their sales history and results in your area, with our questions to ask a real estate agent to help you decide.

Have you picked the right time to sell?

Timing can play a part. Nationally, spring brings the most buyers, but it also brings the most homes for sale, so your home usually faces more competition than at other times of year.

In most states, January is the quietest month for buyers. Winter brings fewer new listings than spring (except in Darwin), with buyer numbers close to average.

That's the picture from ABS home-loan figures and Cotality's listings data. For the pattern in your state, see our guide to the best time to sell a house.

Is it a slow market?

If your home isn't selling, it could simply be a slow market. According to Cotality, 20.9 per cent fewer homes sold across Australia in September 2026 than a year earlier. And its latest count found 19.1 per cent more homes advertised for sale than a year before.

Cotality says the rate rises since February 2026 have cut about $90,000 from what a median-income household can borrow. When buyers are cautious, a well-priced home can still take a while to sell, and you may need to be more flexible on price or terms.

For what to adjust, see our guide to selling in a slowing market.

What if your auction passed in?

If your auction passed in (bidding stopped below your reserve), it isn't the end of the campaign. Your agent can still negotiate with bidders afterwards. In Victoria, if a reserve was set and bidding ended below it, the highest bidder has the first right to negotiate with you.

If a buyer signs on the day or soon after, there's usually no cooling-off period (the few days in which a buyer can pull out of a contract):

• NSW: none for any contract signed on the day the home was passed in
• South Australia and the ACT: none for a contract with a bidder on the auction day
• Queensland: none for a contract with a bidder who registered for the auction, signed by 5pm on the second business day after the pass-in
• Victoria: none on the auction day or within three business days after

So the buyer can't simply change their mind, though any conditions in the contract, such as finance, still apply.

In a private sale, most states give the buyer a few days' cooling-off after signing. Each state's rules are in our auction or private sale guide.

If you're in Victoria and planning another auction, or a sale with a closing date for offers, your reserve won't stay private. Your agent must publish it in the advertising at least seven days before the auction or closing date, and changing it once it's published restarts the seven days.

This applies to auctions and closing dates from 16 October 2026.

Should you take your home off the market?

Sometimes a break is all it needs. Consumer Affairs Victoria suggests that if you don't have to sell urgently, you could withdraw the home and put it back on the market later.

Before you do, check what still applies:

• The agreement: withdrawing doesn't end your agency agreement. It runs until its end date, until you end it as the agreement or your state's law allows, or until your agent agrees to release you.
• Marketing: you may still owe the marketing costs in your agreement, even though the home hasn't sold, unless you negotiated "no sale, no fee".
• A withdrawal fee: South Australia's government notes that some agreements may include one if you withdraw early.
• South Australian auctions: if you end or shorten an auction agreement early, the same agent can't then sign you to a new one with your price set higher than in the old agreement. That holds until the old agreement's original term would have ended.

When you relaunch, treat it as a fresh start: new photos, a reviewed price and, if needed, a new agent. Here's when and how to relist your home, and our guide to selling walks through each step.

Where these figures and rules come from

Days on market, discounts, sales and listings: Cotality's Monthly Housing Chart Pack, October 2026, published 15 October 2026.

Agency agreements, price estimates and advertising: each state's agents legislation, NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Queensland and South Australian governments, WA Consumer Protection and the NT Government.

Auctions and cooling-off: Victoria's auction regulations and each state's sale of land laws.

All sources were read in October 2026.