There were 192 auctions held over the weekend with 93% selling under the hammer. 121 sold at auction, 57 before auction, 139 postponed and in addition there were 102 private sales reported. I expect this number to start rising over the next few weeks.
One on one private inspections of ‘unoccupied’ properties are now permitted but the first week did not start without a lot of confusion over what could and could not occur. There were reports of vendors moving out of properties due to the confusion in regards to what a ‘vacant’ property was. After clarification, it simply meant the tenant or vendor were not permitted to be at the property during the time of the inspections.
Many sales campaigns were thrown into chaos when the construction industry was shut down for two weeks. The shut down has resulted in delays in many sales campaigns as works such as painting, carpets and other activities that may need to occur to get a property sale ready are not permitted to be carried out. In addition to this, the roadmap suggested that photographers and stylists were not permitted into properties until end of October however this was changed mid week and now is a permittable activity.
To add further confusion, selling agents are not permitted to go into property to conduct appraisals yet property valuations can take place. There are still a lot of inconsistencies in the rulings which hopefully will all be ironed out over the next few weeks. That being said, we are all very grateful that the real estate industry can somewhat operate, even if the opening was somewhat bumpy.
56 Duke Street, Windsor sold on the weekend with nine registered bidders and five participating in the online auction. The property which is in need of renovation sold for $1,025,000 which was $79,000 above the advertised price. The online auction of 5/20 Mary Street, Kew was also well contested with 7 registered bidders. The property sold for $682,000 which was well above the $550,000 to $600,000 price range.
Have a great week.
Kim Easterbrook
