But many sellers are still refusing to budge from their dream prices, in the face of offers tens and in some cases hundreds of thousands below what they are asking.
Johnston Dixon principal John Johnston said that in a usual market there was a disparity of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent from buyer to seller - a gap agents could often negotiate closer.
But he said the difference recently had blown out to 30 per cent.
He said right across Brisbane there were instances of people wanting $800,000 for their homes, and buyers wanting to pay around $600,000.
The battle of wills was likely to cut prices in areas where people were facing mortgage stress and needed to sell.
But in blue chip suburbs, despite fewer deals being done this year and an especially slow March and April, prices achieved were still fairly solid.
House prices in leafy south-west suburb Fig Tree Pocket have sky rocketed more than 50 per cent in the past 12 months making it the most profitable place to have sold a house in Queensland.
Figures released by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) revealed Fig Tree Pocket was the best performing locality for house sales between March 2007 to March 2008 and Nelly Bay in Townsville was the most profitable for units or townhouses during the same period.
The median house price in Fig Tree Pocket, which is 9km from the CBD, was $850,00 in March 2008 compared to $542,000 last March (an increase of 56.7 per cent). The next best performer in house sales was Mission Beach along the Cassowary coast where the median for house sales rose from $325,000 to $500,000 (53.8) followed by Glen Eden at Gladstone which increased from $262,000 to $389,000 (48.2).
Auction clearance rates were just 30 per cent last weekend and the number of properties sitting on the market continues to swell. There are 36,150 residential properties listed for sale in Queensland, compared with 16,600 this time last year.
Last week, 1612 new properties were added to the Brisbane market and 4032 statewide.
But RP Data's residential research director Tim Lawless said new listings were coming in at a slower rate.
"Even though new stock levels are slowing, the total level of stock is still very high, indicating that the supply simply isn't being soaked up due to fewer buyers in the market place," Mr Lawless said.
He said bargain hunters were making some cheeky offers.
"We are in the middle of a buyers' market, which means vendors hold less power and buyers hold most of the leverage," Mr Lawless said.
RP Data research shows homes were selling at about 6.1 per cent below the asking price in April.
"There has been some movement in the level of discounting since April and I would estimate the average level of market discount in Brisbane now to be closer to 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent," Mr Lawless said.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland managing director Dan Molloy said multiple interest rate rises had caused the market to ease after the 18 per cent growth of 2007.
"Until economic conditions are more stable some buyers remain hesitant to enter the market and are therefore being careful not to over-commit financially," Mr Molloy.
However, some sellers were still expecting the strong growth of last year.
