Archive for May 2018

Adam reviewing 10 Violet Grove Hawthorn East with Andrew Gibbons from Marshall White

Pass-ins are becoming the new normal at auctions. The majority of the properties we attended on the weekend passed in on vendor bids, with no visible interest from buyers.  Some of these were good properties – well oriented and well positioned, with good floorplans.

We also saw more than 10% of the weekend’s homes sold before auction. You may wish to question why a buyer would be willing to buy before auction in this market. If the property suits your needs, this may be a great opportunity to create certainty; however, considering the number of other buyers interested and their potential price levels is still important, to ensure an informed decision is made before making any offer. You may be the only buyer.

You don’t have to be buying or selling to be thinking about real estate. The property market is something talked about at dinners and functions (almost any occasion) and with the same passion as if talking about the football or cricket.

Talk has moved from bidding tactics at auction to ‘off market’ properties.

We note that most homes that are ‘off market’ are really only private sales. They are properties where the vendors have listed with an agency to sell their home without a marketing campaign. This can be particularly appealing for vendors hoping for a high price. If they don’t get their price, the process hasn’t cost them too much, whereas a formal advertising campaign could leave a vendor out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars.

Properties selling via private sales are not a secret, as they are still marketed to everyone on the agency database at the general price point via email or text alert advising of a special off market opportunity and usually still have public inspections.

That being said, there are still a number of genuine ‘off market’ properties floating around.  Some have been around for six or 12 months, sometimes longer.  Some have even increased their asking price. It is important to remember that just because everyone doesn’t know about the home, it doesn’t mean it is a good property and will suit your needs. If it does, however, having an experienced selling agent and experienced buying agent will increase your chances of buying the home.

Highlights: 

• 9 Condor Street Hawthorn East (Michael Hingston/Geordie Dixon, Jellis Craig) – modern family home, conveniently located, bought before auction for an undisclosed amount over $5 million
• 61 Were Street Brighton (Lisa Comben/David Hart, Buxton) – family home (with polarising façade) with north facing rear, good street – bought before auction $2,850,000
• 27 Ryeburne Avenue Hawthorn East (James Tostevin/Sally O’Connell, Marshall White) – substantial, single storey Edwardian on approx. 1,196sqm – $5,200,000
• 56 Kerferd Street Malvern East (John Chartres/Tory Resic, Thomson RE) – recently renovated, large family home – $6,110,000

 ‘Land’ Sales:

• 69 Irving Road Toorak (Warwick Anderson/Holly Gillham, RT Edgar) – approx. 480sqm, corner block sold for an undisclosed amount closer to $5 million or over $10,000sqm
• 31 South Road Brighton (Ivan Blow/Stefan Whiting, Buxton) – approx. 1090sqm, corner block with single dwelling covenant – undisclosed but over $3.7 million or around $3,400sqm
• 5 Norbert Street Balwyn (William Chen/Anton Zhouk, Buxton) – approx. 681sqm in the Balwyn High zone, $2.338 million or $3,433sqm
• 31 Abbott Street Sandringham (Alan McGillivray/Nick Johnstone, Nick Johnstone RE) – approx. 1,000sqm, corner block in the growth zone, $4,62 million or $4,620sqm

Some of the better properties scheduled for auctions on 2 June: an architect’s view 

10 Elgin Avenue Armadale – Andrew Smith/Eva Christodoulou, Kay & Burton

31 Central Avenue Black Rock – Cam Saba / Alex Spanidis, Branon Real Estate

 14 Airlie Avenue Prahran – Marcus Chiminello/Nicole French, Marshall White

8 Brinsley Road Camberwell – Tim Bennison/Will Bennison, Jellis Craig

‘Off-market’ Properties:

• Single storey, modern family home, Brighton East – $2.4m
• Townhouse, north rear, Hampton – early $2 millions
• Large land, Brighton – over $4m
• Villa unit (needing some cosmetic updating), Brighton – $1.5m
• Corner block, Hawthorn – $4m
• Family home on large land, Kew – $6m
• Double fronted home with pool, Armadale – $2m 

Auction Spotlight:

56 Kerferd St Malvern East

A good sized crowd attended the autumnal auction with Thomson Real Estate at 56 Kerferd Road.

A substantial, fully renovated, family home within the Gascoigne Estate was up for sale at 56 Kerferd Rd. The large spaces and pristine finishes throughout were clearly appealing to many, outweighing the impact of the south rear.  The ‘move-in-now–and-enjoy’ factor was strong with this offering and the market of late has been receptive to such offerings. John Chartres from Thomson led the auction, opening with a vendor bid of $5.5m. Two bidders responded with rapid offers bringing the level to just under $6m before anyone could even catch their breath. After a quick vendor discussion, the home was announced on the market at $6.025m. This brought on another round of bids, eventually slowing and settling at $6.11m.

63 Wheatland Road Malvern

Andrew McCann leads the Jellis Craig team at the successful auction of 63 Wheatland Rd Malvern.

63 Wheatland Rd Malvern offers comfortable family living behind a pretty Edwardian façade. The position, north rear and up to 5 bedrooms will satisfy many families, while some may have been looking for a more functional downstairs master/bathroom combination.  Once Andrew McCann got the auction underway with an opening vendor bid of $2.5m, the attending crowd was characteristically shy. With a little encouragement from Carla Fetter, a bidder responded and was soon met with competition from bidder two, steadily bringing the offer up to $2.75m. Asked if the property was on the market, the reply was positive with the next bid at $2.775m by a third entrant, which brought on a flurry of bids between bidders 1 & 3. At this point a fourth bidder quite literally jumped in and stood intimidatingly beside the auctioneer, shouting out loud and swift bids in response to all opposition. The tactic worked for him, eventually purchasing the property for $2.955m.

Kristen discusses property options with Hodges director Julian Augustini.

In vast contrast to the auctions we attended last week, we saw more properties pass-in on vendor bids this Saturday than sell under the hammer.

The REIV clearance rate for reported properties was sitting at 64% at 6pm Saturday, with 17% of the properties auctioned passing in on vendor bids. More than 10% were sold before auction.

The disparity between vendor expectations and buyer interest is increasing. We are still seeing good numbers at many of the opens we attend, particularly for the ‘A’ grade properties; however, this is now not converting into bidders at auctions for a number of properties.

Some questions that come to mind:

• Do buyers think they need to be above the price range stated on the statement of information to be successful?
• Should buyers expect sale prices to be lower than comparable homes sold in the past 12 months?
• Are vendor sellers within the quoted statement of information?
• Do vendors think the market is always going up?

Stock levels are good for May with plenty of choice, but most agents are suggesting June will see lighter stock levels, with many vendors opting to wait for Spring before selling.

A changing market can be a good time to buy, sell or upgrade. However, it is important to understand a property’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the process you might be transacting in. It’s also important to remember that an opportunity is only an opportunity if it meets the goals you are trying to achieve.

Highlights:

• 2 Rouen Street Hampton (John Clarkson/Sonja Sendin, Buxton) – pretty period home in the Castlefield Estate (heritage protected), small original front rooms, updated and well located to Hampton Street shops – $2,310,000
• 33 Broadway Camberwell (James Tostevin/Nikki Van Gulick, Marshall White) – comfortable period home that could be further improved, passed in with no bids, selling afterwards over $4m
• 43 Karma Avenue Malvern East (Steve Burke/Tony Doh, Hocking Stuart) – renovated single-storey smaller home with pool, suit downsizers and younger families – $2,420,000

‘Land’ Sales:

• 5 Rockingham Street Kew (Claire Endersbee/Sally Morrison, Kay & Burton) – approx. 747sqm, south rear – undisclosed but early $3 millions or around $4,000sqm
• 507 Orrong Road Armadale (Dean Gilbert/Nicholas Franzmann, Marshall White) – approx. 1250sqm, zoned GRZ3, west rear with older apartment block – $6,600,000 or $5,280sqm
• 57 Metung Street Balwyn (Sue Wooldridge/Julian Tonkin, JellisCraig) – approx. 649sqm, east rear in the Balwyn High zone – $2,120,000 or $3,266sqm

Some of the better properties scheduled for auctions on 19 May: an architect’s view

63 Wheatland Road Malvern – Carla Fetter / Ian McLennan, Jellis Craig

9 Condor Street Hawthorn East – Michael Hingston/Chris Hingston, Jellis Craig

5 Thomas Street Hampton – Kate Fowler / Robin Parker, Marshall White

15 Moffat Street Brighton – Jason Gill / Kate Schuster, Hodges

‘Off-market’ Properties:

• Family home on large land, Kew – $6m
• Period home, well located, Hawthorn – high $3millions
• Modern, large family home, Hampton – over $4m
• Large townhouse, good OSP, walk to amenities – early $2millions

Auction Spotlight:

135 Victoria Road Hawthorn East

Andrew Macmillan from Jellis Craig ran a no-nonsense auction (with the usual touches of light comic relief) at 135 Victoria Road Hawthorn East – great crowd & two bidders.

A liveable single-fronted Victorian home with good fundamentals (ie pretty facade, north-facing rear, central location) was on offer here, and a solid crowd of around 100 attended. There was a real vibe at this auction and for good reason: the quote was an enticing one and seemingly the vendor had reasonable expectations. Where else in Hawthorn East can you buy a product like this in the early $1m range? Auction started with a confident crowd bid of $1.25m, and, not long after, bidder 2 came along. Some mixed bidding increments saw the property announced on the market at $1.33m, and then sell under the hammer for $100,000 more ($1,430,000). Good result for listing agents Andrew Macmillan and Clayton Smith – bit of experience there.

2 Serrell St Malvern East

Daniel Wheeler from Marshall White worked hard to try and entice bids out of those attending the auction at 2 Serrell St Malvern East.

This home offers a family package in comfortable condition, having been renovated and extended some years ago. Perhaps the flow of the floorplan and proximity to Dandenong Rd are holding buyers back here. Daniel Wheeler and Clare Moloney headed up the Marshall White team at this auction, where the sun tried to glimpse through the autumn trees onto the reasonable crowd in attendance. Daniel opened with a vendor bid of $1.8m after he was met with the usual silence at the commencement of proceedings. A young family reciprocated with a $20k bid. Following a half-time break and a second bidder placing $10k counter bids, the first bidder gained pole position for further discussions with vendors when the property was passed in at $1.87m. The property did not sell after, with the vendors having far higher expectations, seeking $2.18m.