The last auction weekend of the year showed an improved clearance rate of 53% on 746 auctions that were held. 315 sold at auction, 78 before auction, 2 after and 156 private sales.
For the properties left on the market, some vendors will be feeling the pressure to reduce prices to achieve a sale prior to the Christmas break. There will also be some vendor’s that will hold strong in the hope that they will achieve their price in the New Year. We usually see buying conditions for December, especially this week, sway towards the buyers. That being said, the amount of stock is less than previous years and most of the A grade properties have been snapped up.
There is no doubt 2018 has been a challenging year for all people involved in property. Vendors have been challenged to decrease their price expectations to meet the market and buyers trying to get finance approved have been challenged by the banks with their tightening of lending. In addition to this, the media has stirred the pot with putting unnecessary fear into the market place causing many buyers to pause from buying and vendors from selling. But in all respects, the market has held up quite well considering and last weekends clearance rate of 53% surely demonstrates this.
What can we see next year? Everyone has an opinion about this but in actual fact, no one has a crystal ball. There will be some buyers holding off until after the federal election to buy but some savvy buyers will jump in and make the most of the eased market conditions. Banks in time will start relaxing their lending policies. But as a usual result of market uncertainty, vendors will hold off selling and stock levels are likely to drop. Our population should continue to keep climbing and this demand should inturn start putting pressure on prices again as supply declines.
And that’s a wrap from the Elite team for 2018. We are all looking forward to a well earned break and coming back mid January to hit the ground running for 2019.
We wish you are a very happy and safe holiday and have a wonderful New Year.
The Elite Team
Kim, David, Sophie, Anil and Amanda
2/200 Tucker Road, Bentleigh sold $874,000
This property gained plenty of attention from buyers and neighbours with a 70 plus crowd in attendance. The auction typically was slow to start with and opened with a vendor bid of $670,000. A first home buyer jumped in at $680,000 when an attemped knock out bid by another party at $750,000 failed to stop another first home buyers from bidding. The property sold $70,000 over reserve for $874,000.
149 Mitford Street, Elwood passed in
Despite the best effort of the auctioneer to create some audience participation, the auction of this two bedroom, one bathroom period home failed to achieve any active bidding with the property passing in on a vendor bid. The market has been particularly unkind to renovator delights no matter how well located. The property is priced at $1,100,000 and is now on the market for private sale.
15 Driftwood Drive, Glen Waverley
A 70 plus strong crowd witnessed six bidders try to secure 15 Driftwood Drive, Glen Waverley after it had failed to sell twice previously. This four bedroom, two bathroom home is located on an irregular shaped block however the attraction of the school zone outweighed this. The Glen Waverley Secondary College is a highly sought after public High School.
