Scroll through any property portal and you'll see it: "Listed 47 days ago." Or maybe "Listed 3 days ago." It's one of those numbers that sits there quietly, barely noticed — until you start wondering whether a long time on market means there's something wrong with the place. And a short time on market must mean it's hot property, right? Not necessarily.
What DOM actually is
Days on market — DOM for short — is simply how long a property has been advertised for sale. It starts counting the day the listing goes live on the major portals and stops when the property sells or is withdrawn. A property that sells in 14 days has a DOM of 14; one that's been sitting there four months has a DOM of 120. What counts as normal depends heavily on the market — in a hot Sydney market the average might be 25–35 days; in a quieter regional market, 60–90 days can be perfectly normal.
The number cuts both ways
A short time on market
- Genuinely desirable & well priced
- …or manufactured urgency
A long time on market
- Overpriced, or a hidden issue
- …or a quiet opportunity
A long DOM isn't all bad: it could be overpriced or have a problem buyers keep spotting — but it could also mean the seller is in no rush, or that the property has a quirky feature that's perfect for a specific buyer (you) and less appealing to the broad market. Some of the best opportunities we've found had been sitting online for months. A very short DOM cuts the other way too: it might be genuinely desirable and well priced, or an agent running a short campaign to make buyers feel they must move fast. The way to tell the difference is always the same — look at comparable sales.
If the price guide stacks up against what similar properties actually sold for, the urgency might be real. If it doesn't, someone's trying to rush you past the maths.
The trap the portals don't warn you about
DOM resets. If a property sits unsold for months and the agent relists it — maybe with a different agency, maybe a tweaked headline — the clock goes back to zero. A property that looks fresh on the market might have been trying to sell for six months under a different listing. We check for this; it's one of the first things we look at when assessing a property for a client.
The most useful thing DOM does is give you context. A property on the market for 60 days in a suburb where the average is 20 is asking a question: are other buyers seeing something you're not, or has the seller finally dropped to a price that makes sense? Knowing the number is step one — understanding what it means in context is where the real work starts.
This article is general property market information only — it isn't financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Your specific situation should always be discussed with a qualified, licensed professional (financial adviser, mortgage broker, tax agent or solicitor) before you make any decisions. FiveFold Property Partners helps clients buy property; we are not licensed financial advisers.