Occasional notes on what we see from the buying side. Written when there is something worth saying, not to a publishing schedule.
Transaction volume is the number everyone quotes and the one that tells you least. What a seller will accept on timing, conditionality and deposit structure moves months before headline pricing does — and it is visible only to buyers actually at the table. We look at terms first and prices second.
A significant share of prime and super-prime stock never reaches a listing portal. Owners at this level are managing privacy, timing and tax position rather than seeking maximum exposure — which changes who they will deal with, and how. The portal view of the market is not the market.
Buyers who take six weeks to answer are not more careful than buyers who take five days. They are differently built. When an owner accepts a lower figure for a faster completion they are buying the removal of financing, chain and re-trade risk — and pricing it, correctly, as worth paying for.
