Hi,

Melbourne’s auction clearance rate remained consistent over the weekend with 934 auctions reported achieving a clearance rate of 81%.  760 properties sold, 174 passed in and there were an additional 193 private sales.

The consistent high auction weekends have bought more choice to keen buyers which has resulted in a more balanced market for buyers and sellers.  The fierce panic in the market seems to have faded with more buyers willing to wait until their ideal property comes onto the market.   That being said, many properties are still selling well but with less bidders per property and fewer run away results than we were experiencing a couple of months ago.

One of the last remaining large parcels of land went to auction in Box Hill on the weekend.  The block was 1,632 sqm and was quoted conservatively for $3,000,000 to $3,300,000 prior to auction.  Four bidders pushed the property well passed this where it was announced on the market at $3,725,000 and sold for $4,062,000.

A house in Spotswood had huge competition at auction with an advertised vendor’s reserve prior to auction of $950,000.  The house flew past this price within two bids with a mix of buyers from investors, first home buyers, families and downsizers trying to secure the home.  The property sold for $1,200,000.

Have a great week.

Kim Easterbrook

Hi Nikki,

Another high volume auction weekend with 978 auctions reported to the REIV achieving a clearance rate of 82%.  806 sold at auction, 172 passed in and there were an additional 159 private sales.

Over the weekend, the Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas announced that stamp duty on property and land taxes will rise effective from the 1st of July as part of the this week’s state budget.

The new changes will include an increase in stamp duty for purchases over $2,000,000 which will include the normal $110,000 payable upto $2,000,000 and then changing to 6.5% over $2,000,000.  On a $3,000,000 purchase the stamp duty will now be $175,000 which is an increase of $10,000.  Whilst a lot of money, probably not enough of an increase to stop buyers from purchasing at the higher end.

Land tax is also proposed to be increased by 0.25% for taxable land holdings from $1,800,000 to $3,000,000 and 0.30% for taxable land holdings above $3,000,000.  If you have taxable land holdings (and this does not include your Principal Place of Residence) of $3,000,000, the current rate of land tax is $24,975 and the new proposed amount would be $27,975 which is an increase of $3,000 per year.

Whilst these increases are designed to target higher income earners, I don’t believe it will be enough to stop an owner occupier buying their ideal home but it may impact the amount of properties an investor purchases in Victoria.  That being said, the majority of property investors only hold one or two investment properties at any one time.

Developers and investors owning properties that are rezoned are also being targeted with a 50% tax if the gain is over $500,0000.

Despite the freezing conditions, the weekend’s auctions were active and open for inspections were busy.  Some even reporting lines up down the road, quite a feat considering the arctic blast Melbourne was experiencing.

1/3 Wilkins Avenue, Beaumaris – last sold for $552,500 in 2012 went under the hammer over the weekend with three bidders participating in the auction.  The property was announced on the market at $1,050,0000 and sold for $1,115,000.

17 Capulet Street, Moonee Ponds was popular with families producing 4 bidders at the auction.  The property was quoted $1,425,000 to $1,525,000 but sold well above this under the hammer for $1,705,000.

2/1163 Dandenong Road, Malvern East achieved a surprising result for a main road location.  Villa units in quality suburbs are in high demand and this three bedroom, one bathroom property was no exception, 6 bidders in total property achieving a result 25% above the top of the quoted range of $1,093,000.

Have a great week.

Kim Easterbrook

Hi,

There was a Super Saturday in Melbourne over the weekend with 1,019 auctions reported producing a clearance rate of 81%.  623 properties sold under the hammer, 192 sold before auction and 195 passed in.  There were an additional 204 private sales.

The Australia Bureau of Statistics released data showing new home loans surging to a record high in the month of March (an increase of 5.5% over the month).  The data showed that investors had the largest increase (which is consistent with the new enquiry we are receiving in our office) but worryingly that first home buyer approvals have dropped.

Interestingly, what this does demonstrate is that there are still a lot of buyers wanting to enter the property market and have only just started the process.  Price growth does seem likely for quite some time to come whilst interest rates remain low and confidence is high.  However, the rate of price growth is stabilising which is not unexpected as an increase of 8.8% in one quarter is not sustainable.  It seems the ‘fear of missing out’ is easing.

The auction of the property at 10 Hardinge Street, Beaumaris was competitive with seven bidders trying to secure this land site.  The demand for houses in Beaumaris has increased dramatically due to the new Beaumaris Secondary College school zone.  The deceased estate was quoted for $1,550,000 to $1,650,000 prior to auction with the knock down selling for $2,035,000.

1572 High Street, Glen Iris sold well above reserve with just the two bidders participating at the auction.  A strong opening bid knocked out some potential purchasers but was challenged with the property selling for $3,001,000 which was more than $400,000 above the reserve price.

Have a great day.

Kim Easterbrook

Hi,

There were 970 auctions held over the weekend resulting in a clearance rate of 81% according to the REIV.  609 sold at auction, 179 sold before auction and there were an additional 210 private sales.   The clearance rate for houses was 84% with a median price of $1,200,000 and apartments achieved a 76% clearance rate with a median price of $771,000.  Interestingly, this time last year there were only 96 auctions held.

Many experts are expecting property price growth to continue this year and further beyond.  This is all happening without population growth which is not expected to increase again for another two years.  Our employment growth has been better than expected, coupled with low interest rates, strong consumer confidence and many people have actually been able to save quite a bit of money over the past twelve months, this has all contributed to an increase in demand.

It seems APRA and the Reserve Bank are more interested in financial market stability, promoting growth in economic activity and lending regulations than property prices at present, so it doesn’t appear that any intervention is on the cards in the immediate future.

The weekend auctions we attended were once again competitive with multiple bidders and all auctions selling under the hammer.

The auction of 1/7 Crawford Road, Cheltenham produced a higher than expected result.  Entry level houses/units for good quality suburbs are currently in strong demand.  This three bedroom, two bathroom, one of two home attracted three bidders at auction.  The opening bid of $1,050,000 was quickly trumped by another bid of $1,200,000 where the property was announced on the market.  Two bidders then went head to head where the property sold for $1,325,000.

17 Leroux Street, Oakleigh had a lot of interest with land sites with development potential continuing to be in strong demand.  This property is on 702 sqm with a rentable, original house on it.  The property was quoted $1,050,000 to $1,150,000 prior to auction.  There was a large crowd in attendance and five bidders in total (with some not even having the opportunity to put their hand up).  The property sold for $1,387,000.

Have a great day.

Kim Easterbrook

Hi,

There were fewer auctions over the Anzac Day weekend with 704 reported to the REIV producing a clearance rate of 80%.  566 sold at auction, 138 passed in and there were an additional 183 private sales.  We will have five weeks straight of high auction numbers before the Queen’s Birthday weekend with the 1st of May being a super Saturday (a weekend with more than 1,000 auctions scheduled).

Family homes have been performing very well at auction with many producing results well above their reserve prices.  There are examples of this all over Melbourne and regional Victoria as buyers upgrade for more space.   Some family home buyers are looking for bigger backyards and a home office (or extra bedroom) as a result of spending more time at home last year and changes to the way we work.

The auction of 14 Landcox Street, Brighton East had four bidders wanting to secure the five bedroom, four bathroom period home on over 1,000 sqm.  The property was quoted $3,200,000 to $3,225,000 and sold for $3,503,000.  Buyers were drawn to the substantial land size and the number of rooms the property had, even having a fully self-contained studio at the rear.

36 Stuart Avenue, Cheltenham was very popular with buyers due to the entry level price point for a house beach side of the highway.  The three bedroom, two bathroom, orange brick home was quoted $1,300,000 – $1,350,000 before auction.  A flurry of bidding pushed the price well above the reserve price selling for $1,663,000.

The auction of 67 Deep Creek Drive, Doncaster East (a large four bedroom, three bathroom home on 1,600 sqm) had five bidders.  The property was declared on the market at $2,700,000 and sold for $3,050,000.  The property had a swimming pool, a tennis court, four bedrooms, three living areas and a home office.

It is not unusual for properties to be selling 10% to 20% above the advertised prices in the current market.  This is mostly not due to underquoting as such, but from strong buyer demand pushing the prices well above the agents estimated selling range and vendor’s reserve prices.

Have a great week.

Kim Easterbrook

Hi,

There were 922 auctions reported to the REIV weekend producing a strong clearance rate of 86%.  623 sold at auction, 169 sold before auction and in addition there were 207 private sales.

Active bidding, large crowds, reserves were smashed and whilst we thought a slow down in growth was in sight, the results from the weekend demonstrated this may not be the case.  There is high interest from buyers across the board from investors, first home buyers, upsizers, downsizers, renovators/developers with pressure on prices at all price points.

Land sites for buyers looking to build large family homes are in high demand, 13 Mangan St, Balwyn sold at auction on the weekend for $3,381,000 with five bidders trying to secure the land site. The price quoted was $2,800,000 to $3,000,000.  Another land site at 3 Bay Street, Parkdale sold for $2,575,500 on an agents price guide of $1,950,000 to $2,145,000.  Whilst some agents price guides are low, reserves generally speaking have not been too far from the top of the range.  It is the buyer competition that is pushing prices to these levels.

The REIV released their quarterly data last week which showed property prices increased by 8.8% in Melbourne, resulting in the Melbourne median house price surpassing the $1 million mark for the first time.  The house prices in regional Victoria increased by 4% which equates to 12% growth for the year and 19% for units.  The median unit prices across Melbourne increased by 5% for the quarter.

The amount of transactions for the quarter reached 35,000 which is the highest in six years.  We are still playing a lot of catch up from last year however no one could have predicted the level of interest property has received this year.

Have a great week.

Kim Easterbrook

Hi,

A huge amount of properties went under the hammer over the weekend achieving a clearance rate well in to the 80’s again for many weeks in a row.  1,451 properties went to auction over the weekend, with 964 selling at auction, 270 selling before, 1 sold after auction and 216 passed in.  In addition, there were 208 private sales.

In comparison, this time last year there were 1,161 auctions achieving a clearance rate of 90% and was the last weekend before Covid cases started to rise in Australia and fear started to set into property buyers.

Strong price growth is expected for the March quarter with no slow down in sight.  Huge crowds attended auctions on the weekend with many auctions experiencing strong bidding from multiple parties.

Australia’s population growth declined to its slowest rate in almost 15 years with negative net overseas migration and a drop in the national fertility rate.  It is expected that the population growth will remain low to negative for quite some time to come, but, when international travel is allowed again, overseas migration will start to rise and population will start to grow again.  This could put further pressure on property prices.

10 Rowe Street, Fitzroy North sold on the weekend for $915,000 above its reserve price.  The unrenovated, three bedroom hawthorn brick home was quoted $2,600,000 to $2,860,000 before auction.  The first opening big was $3,000,000 and the property was immediately announced on the market.  The price soared from there selling at $3,915,000 which was over $915,000 above reserve.

2/48 Argyle Avenue, Chelsea had a lot of interest from first home buyers, investors and downsizers.  This large two bedroom, two bathroom villa unit was quoted $595,000 to $650,000 prior to auction. Strong bidding from six parties (with many not getting the opportunity to put their hand up) resulted in the property selling for a whopping $850,000.  Quality villa unit prices have historically grown strongly and due to the entry level price point for these properties, we believe prices will continue to keep growing.

Have a great week.

Kim Easterbrook

Hi ,

Masks were off over the weekend and bidding was fierce at some auctions.  The REIV clearance rate was 84% on 937 auctions.  592 sold at auction, 195 sold before auction and there were an additional 194 private sales.

There is a huge interest in property at the moment, not only in Melbourne but across the state.  The after effects of multiple lockdowns have seen many people rethink their way of living.  The number of vendors selling due to a seachange or treechange has increased dramatically.  On the flipside though, we have also experienced high level of enquiries of expats wanting to buy a base in Melbourne with a view of coming home over the next couple of years.  There has also been an influx of Sydney buyers wanting real estate in Melbourne or Regional Victoria (mainly Geelong and Ballarat).

The demand in the upsizer market is putting strong pressure on the housing market, this has been caused by a large number of people rethinking about the type of property and space they need due to spending so much time at home over the past twelve months.  Extra bedrooms, study’s and reasonable sized backyards are on the wish list to allow more flexibility to work from home and space for children to run around.

Over the weekend, there have been many reports of properties selling well above the advertised price range and the vendors reserve.   While some of this has been caused by the increase in buyer demand, I do believe that some advertised price ranges are low and not in line with current market value. This is mostly not due to the agent under quoting the property, rather than vendors having extremely realistic reserves and at levels where prices were last year.  Over the next few months that gap should decrease as vendor’s expectations start to rise due to the rising market.

The auction of 20 Cowper Street, Sandringham was of interest to many buyers.  The property was a three bedroom, two bathroom original mid-century home on approximately 390 sqm of land.  The appeal of the property was the location and the architectural uniqueness of the home.  The property was quoted for $1,300,000 to $1,400,000 in the first week of the campaign but due to high interest levels was raised to $1,500,000 to $1,600,000.  The property was announced on the market at $1,650,000 but what was interesting was the level of interest above this.  There were still five bidders above $1,900,000 and three bidders above $2,000,000.  The property sold for $2,105,000 to what appeared to be an owner occupier.

Another rare property to sell well above reserve was 15 Waltham Street, Flemington.  The Victorian home on 500 square metres was hugely popular with the opening bid of $2,000,000 exceeding the reserve and putting the property on the market.  The property sold for $2,560,000 which was $610,000 above the vendors reserve.

Interestingly, properties that were on the market last year and could not sell have been relisted and being snapped up quickly.

Have a wonderful week.

Kim Easterbrook

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

image19.091449

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.

image20.091553

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.

image22.094229

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.

What is a Buyers Agent?

A Buyers Agent are property experts whose role is to help you make buying property simple and easy.  Many buyers go directly to selling agents for advice in purchasing a property, forgetting that selling agents are paid by the vendor to sell their home and may not act in the buyer’s best interest.

Buyer Agent’s are licensed professionals with a wide ranging background in real estate who represent and assist either the potential home buyer or property investor to acquire property. Buyer Advocates are solely committed to the interests of the buyer and do not represent the seller in any way.   A Buyer’s Agentse levels the playing field and helps eliminate stress and saves time when purchasing property.

what is a buyers agent


A Buyers Agent role.

The role of a Buyers Agent is to:

If you want to learn more about what a buyer’s agent service then contact Elite today – Contact Us

 

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