Archive for February 2017

The sunny weather reflected the weekend’s buoyant market, with big crowds and a healthy clearance rate.

The first real test of the 2017 market was last weekend.  On big numbers, the market passed with flying colours, with the REIV reporting a very healthy 82.5% clearance rate on the 1168 auctions held across Melbourne.

Generally, the pass-ins on the weekend all had a common denominator – high vendor price expectations.

Auction Highlights:

‘Land’ Sales:

Sold before:

Off Market Properties:

Auction Spotlights:

112 Asling St Brighton

Stephen Smith from Marshall White Brighton ran this successful auction, with four bidders vying for the property.

About 60 people gathered on both sides of Asling St for the auction of this renovated Edwardian home, which had a traditional façade opening up to a modern living space at the rear. Stephen Smith from Marshall White reminded bidders of the many benefits of the surrounding amenities before bidding started at $1.7m. Bids climbed steadily to put the home on the market at $1.89m and to an eventual sale at a very even $2.0m.

80 Brougham St Kew

The good-sized crowd was entertained by a spirited auction run by Antony Woodley from Marshall White.

This beautifully renovated and extended period home has a long list of modern conveniences and is situated in a great location within easy walk of the Kew shopping precinct. With such a sought-after home to sell, Antony Woodley, from Marshall White, quickly received solid offers after a start of $2.3m, pushing the bidding beyond the reserve around the $2.75m mark. A fifth bidder was the eventual successful purchaser for $2.85m.

Properties we like, scheduled for auction March 18

36 College Street Hawthorn – Rocco Montanaro / Malcolm Perkins – Morrison Kleeman Estate Agents

72 Fawkner Street South Yarra – Hugh Hardy / Emily Rutherford, Abercromby’s

75 Crisp Street Hampton  – Robin Parker / Kate Fowler, Marshall White

123 Albert Street Port Melbourne – Justin Holod / Oliver Bruce, Marshall White

Agent Opinion: You’ve created a niche for yourself as a specialist in the Stonnington ‘single fronted’ property market. What sort of changes have you seen re prices and buyer groups for these properties?

Carla Fetter, Jellis Craig Armadale: I continually scratch my head on any given weekend at the results we are seeing for the premium single-fronted homes that are on offer. For instance, we sold a property a few weeks ago in Gordon Grove Malvern for close to $2m. It last sold less than three years ago for $1.45m with no upgrades being made. What I have noticed is that downsizers are competing hard for single level homes in good streets, often pushing prices above $2m. We are also encouraged by young professionals who are on good incomes but also have assistance from family to push them up in price. Ultimately it creates a ‘perfect storm’ for our sellers.

The road ahead for 2017 is looking strong: Andrew Gibbons (Marshall White) at 24 Percy St, Hawthorn.

Saturday’s auction results did not disappoint expectations of most vendors. At 6pm Saturday, the REIV reporting a 78% clearance rate on the 846 auctions held. Only 78 passed in with no bidding (around 10%).

Of the properties we saw auctioned on the weekend, those that passed in generally had:

• No obvious renovation solutions, or tricky floor plans
• Compromised positions (i.e. near commercial building etc)
• Vendors who thought their properties were worth more than the buyers did

Auction Highlights:

‘Land’ Sales:

Off Market Properties:

Auction Spotlights:

36 Morang Road, Hawthorn

A lot of pre-auction interest and a big crowd on the day here saw a big result, with this property sold under the hammer (Hamish Tostevin, Marshall White).

We attended the first open for inspection for this property some weeks ago and there were about 60 other ‘groups’ with us. That was an early indicator that this property was going to be well received, and it sure was on auction day. Hamish Tostevin mentioned to the 100-strong crowd in his preamble that he had sold about 15 properties in Morang Road (which was an interesting insight, I thought – it is hard to buy that kind of experience) and buyers couldn’t really go wrong here. The auction kicked off with a crowd bid of $1.4m, and clipped along nicely, being announced on the market at $1.53m. Bidding climbed and climbed and eventually sold under the hammer to the original bidder for a very, very strong $1.845m. Four bidders in all took part in here, mostly downsizers. The keys here? Location, single-level floor plan and easy access to a car garage at the rear. Of course, good agent work and marketing too helps … the vendor should be very happy.

52 Manning Road Malvern East

Daniel Wheeler from Marshall White orchestrated a successful auction at 52 Manning Road Malvern East.

52 Manning Road is a beautifully presented Art Deco property for either young families or downsizers and attracted plenty of the latter on auction day. Daniel Wheeler from Marshall White espoused the great location close to shops/cafes, schools, public transport and parks to inspire the good-sized crowd. Although shy at first, requiring an opening vendor bid of $1.6m, three bidders soon stepped in to push the price past the $1.85m reserve and to a solid result at $1.99m.

Properties we like, scheduled for auction March 4

31 Mathoura Road Toorak – Oliver Booth/Jeremy Fox – RT Edgar

96 Hambleton Street Middle Park – Nicholas Hoo/Oliver Bruce – Marshall White

22 Leura Grove Hawthorn East – John Morrisby/Sally Morrison – Jellis Craig

15 Whyte Street Brighton – Barb Gregory/Jason Collie – Marshall White

Agent Opinion: ‘With the strong results at the end of last year, are vendor expectations even higher now in early 2017?’

Duane Wolowiec, Marshall White: With the first ‘real’ auction weekend gone, it seems that vendors are dealing OK with market expectations at the minute.

That said, if vendors see a ‘runaway’ result they can get pretty encouraged by that and it is important often to put that into context.

In the areas I specialise in, vendors acknowledge that there will always be demand for quality properties and at present there is still a lack of supply of those.

Auctions are back for 2017: one of the best voices in real estate, Julian Augustini from Hodges, in action at 344 Hampton St, Hampton.

Welcome back to the property market for 2017.

After a strong finish to the 2016 Melbourne market, it appears likely (if open for inspection numbers are anything to go by) that the good properties will be well contested again this year.

There appears to be a greater supply of stock in many suburbs compared to the same time last year, which will no doubt be pleasing for buyers.

The number of homes auctioned on Saturday was still low: only 433 across Melbourne, according to the REIV, with an 82% clearance rate. Next Saturday will be stronger; however, it is unlikely we will be able to get a good read of where the market is heading until February 25 and March 3, which are both shaping up to be big auction days.

Some trends we have seen over the past few weeks are:

• Very good numbers at open for inspections for the properties with good fundamentals and/or that have been well marketed.
• Increased numbers of apartments and ‘off-the plan’ properties for sale.
• Off market properties continue to proliferate the market – although just because it’s off market doesn’t mean it is a good property. We would rather our clients buy a great property at auction than an average property off market.
• Improved stock levels – better than this quarter last year, which was nearly over, before it even started, because of the early Easter holiday. March numbers are looking healthy. A few agents have mentioned that their photography agencies have been so busy they have had to employ freelance staff to keep up with demand.
• Downsizer properties continue to attract very strong interest and there has been an increased number of Asian buyers inspecting property in areas of Melbourne we haven’t seen before, particularly since Chinese New Year.
• Many of properties that were still for sale at the end of last year have sold over summer, some well above their passed-in prices, such as:
  • 25 Were Street, Brighton, passing in for $2.01m, selling for $2.3m,
  • 30 Studley Road, Brighton East, passing in for $175m, selling for $1.98m,
  • 50 Childers Street, Kew, passing in for $1.5m, selling for $1.71m,
  • 19 Chatsworth Road, Prahran, passing in for $2.385m, selling for $2.6m,
  • 68 Oban Street, South Yarra, passing in for $2.2m, selling for $2.45m,

With the new quoting laws due to commence mid-year, some agencies have adjusted their quoting policies. This may make it harder (in the short term) for buyers to understand prices when comparing properties, and, for some, who simply add 10-20%, it may help fuel an already strong market and push prices even higher. Understanding values is likely to be more important than ever for buyers. Independent advice designed to achieve your goals, not the sellers’, may be the difference between success or not.

Auction Spotlights:

47 Brougham Street Kew

One of the first auctions of the year. A good crowd saw Paul Caine (Caine Real Estate) sell this property under the hammer.

One of the first auctions of the year, so a good opportunity to see what the buyer sentiment was for the opening of 2017.

47 Brougham features a neat, single-level updated timber period home with good garaging at the rear. Being well positioned to Kew Junction means it should always attract good interest, Auctioneer Paul Caine gave an insightfully preamble, explaining the definition of the word ‘Brougham’ (it more or less means ‘fortified village’, dating to the 7^th century). The 100-strong crowd seemed engaged with this, and when the auction started the opening bidder come in quickly. Not long after, bidder 2 joined in and the auction was off and running in mixed bid amounts. At $1.53m, the property was announced on the market and then bidder 3 came in late and eventually bought the home for $1.668m. If this auction is anything to go by, then the single-fronted smaller home market will do quite well in 2017 – let’s see.

29 Rubens Grove Canterbury

Doug McLauchlan (Marshall White) was the auctioneer here, where more than 100 people gathered in the leafy street to watch.

Both sides of the leafy street were filled with people for the auction of this property.  The property offers excellent potential to renovate and extend the current Edwardian, or start afresh on the 1,066sqm block (STCA). An extra wedge of land was added to the property some time ago, improving the connection to the parklands and trail along the western rear. While the crowd was large, Doug McLauchlan from Marshall White had to start proceedings with a vendor bid of $3.7m to coax out a bidder who offered an additional $100,000. The property was eventually passed in at this level, and is now for private sale for $4.25m.

Off-markets:

Properties we like, scheduled for auction on February 25:

28 Binnie Street Brighton East – Peter Kennett / Tamara Whelan – Hocking Stuart

25 Douglas Street Malvern East – John Morrisby/Ian McLennan, Jellis Craig

14 Waterloo Street Camberwell – James Tostevin/Mike Beardsley, Marshall White

81 Kerferd Road Albert Park – David Wood/Stephanie Evans, Hocking Stuart

Agent Opinion: ‘Where do you think the market will head in 2017? How are the number of buyers and properties looking?’

Halli Moore, Buxton Brighton: Buyer demand is up compared to last year and there are strong numbers at inspections. I think there has been pent-up demand over Christmas due to the lack of stock last year. Many buyers are keen to buy before auction, which has seen some strong prices achieved. We are also seeing quite a few off-market transactions. We need more stock but it should be a good year.