Buyers who can afford to get into the market should consider making moves sooner rather than later, according to property experts.
Stock levels are tipped to rise during spring, creating a favourable market for buyers in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
"At the moment for Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, it still looks like it's just on the side of sellers, if you will," CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said.
"But we know through spring, as the months progress, there will be more supply added to the market, so that could test the depth of buyer demand as more supply comes online and headwinds sit in place of buying demand, like your high interest rates and high cost of living."
However, predictions of a cut to the interest rate in 2025 could lead to a jump in buyer demand, pushing up property prices.
"For buyers who can afford to get in, it might be a good time to get ahead of buyer demand that flows through when interest rates are cut," she said.
"If you can afford to get in now, then you may be getting an advantage over some additional sellers that come through with rate cuts."
'Now is the sweet spot'
A buyers' market means supply outweighs demand, providing buyers with a wider range of properties to inspect and less competition.
It also gives buyers more power to negotiate on price.
There are currently around 2700 properties listed for sale across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
Listing agent Craig Rosevear has been "flat out" with appraisals since joining the team at Harcourts Newcastle.
"It has been really busy," Mr Rosevear said.
"The amount of appraisals and people reaching out for advice tells me it is going to be a good run into Christmas.
"I think because everyone has been complacent for so long and locked into a circling pattern, it will be a shock for people when things start to happen with interest rates and they get caught out."
With stock levels on the rise, home buyers in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have a window of opportunity to get into the market before the first interest rate cut, he said.
"We're in a situation that I call 'pent-up procrastination', so you've got a lot of people on the sidelines waiting for a trigger event to happen that will take them to the next level," he said.
"They have the desire, they just don't have the confidence.
"Ironically, people have more confidence to spend more money when everyone else is out there spending more money.
"This effectively pushes up the prices, so the time to get in is before that happens."
Mr Rosevear, who splits his time selling real estate between Newcastle and California, said the property market in Australia mimics the US.
"What we're seeing right now is there couldn't be enough signaling that interest rates are going to come down," he said.
"Already we've had a 0.5 per cent reduction in interest rates in the US, which was a whopping discount.
"Australia has always taken the lead from the US and so the message for buyers and sellers is that if we know this is coming and it's not going to be a rise, it's going to be a reduction, when is the time that you're caught out?
"You need to jump in and have discussions with your broker, start looking at open homes and you need to get your ducks in a row.
"More buyers equals more demand, so now is the sweet spot."
Buyer activity up
"In Newcastle, even in the last two weeks, buyer activity has picked up significantly," Farmers' Finance mortgage broker Ben Robinson said.
"That's on the back of more positivity around where interest rates are heading and a lot of people are understanding that it is fairly imminent.
"The big four banks all agreed there will be four to five cuts next year, so depending on what those cuts are, whether they are 0.5 per cent or 0.25 per cent, it is going to be quite a different interest rate environment.
"If rates drop by about a per cent, it is going to unlock another $70,000 to $80,000 borrowing capacity for the average household."
Sam Roberts, 23, is in the market as a joint first-home buyer with his brother Ben.
Predictions of a cut to the interest rate played a major part in their decision to enter the property market in Newcastle sooner rather than later.
"With the interest rates as they are at the moment, I feel like they will be going down, so it's probably not the worst time to buy," Mr Roberts said.
"The potential for property prices to go up again with a rate cut definitely played on our mind.
"I feel like in terms of price, things are a lot better at the moment.
"I was looking at properties last year and couldn't find anything like we are finding now in our price range."
