Archive for August 2018

Kristen & Alexandra reviewing the highlights of the renovated Californian Bungalow at 53 Plummer Rd Mentone with Lou Colella from Thomson Real Estate. Great young family or downsizer option.

It was another fortnight of good results for most of the ‘A’ grade properties, with position the key criterion that supported the properties that sold well.

Of interest, 20 Bridge Street Hampton (Michael Cooney/Melissa Grinter, Hodges) was auctioned again, the second time this year after being auctioned in late February.  The property passed-in this time to a genuine bidder for $3,125,000. We believe this to be down just slightly on earlier offers; however, it still suggests that the market in general hasn’t changed too much this year.

Located in an ‘A’ grade location (walk to both Hampton & Sandringham shops/station and the beach), the home is on the south side of the street yet quite cleverly brought sun into the living area. With no downstairs bed/bath combination, this perhaps ruled out one of the main buying groups – the downsizing market.

We believe a home could sell three times in the same year and get a different result each time, depending on the combination of variations (buyer groups, other homes for sale, weather, external economic influences) in the market place. The offer at Bridge Street (while it hasn’t sold) supports our belief that the market is fairly steady.

We think it also demonstrates that if you are trying to sell a ‘price’ rather than the property, now may not be the time to do it. If vendors are planning on ‘testing’ the market at the moment, it may be better to try quietly, particularly given the costs (advertising, staged furnishings etc) associated with a campaign.

We are seeing the number of off market/private sale properties continuing to increase and there are some good properties among them on offer.

Highlights:

Occasionally there are also homes that defy the market, where two buyers have decided that (potentially irrespective of other due diligence regarding choice and/or price) they must have the home.  No doubt there were very happy vendors at both:

• 36 Camperdown Street Brighton (Matthew Pillios/Kate Strickland, Marshall White) – saw the highest reported sale for the week.  An older home more recently undergoing a major renovation, with a very functional large family home floorplan, on the south side of the street – undisclosed but over $4,000,000
• 12 Ashleigh Road Armadale – a four-bedroom brick family home on only 348sqm saw strong competition.  Compare this to 67 Northcote Road, which sold for an undisclosed amount just over $3 million the fortnight before. It was a single storey, four-bedroom home (missing the study and small retreat that Ashleigh offered) but on more land – 402sqm.  We didn’t do the full due diligence on either.  Both were conveniently located to shops and transport. We felt  the overall flow, proportions and position was better at Northcote, yet that sold for less – Ashleigh selling on Saturday for $3,180,000

Some of the better properties scheduled for Auction on 8 September; an architect’s view

82 Guildford Road Surrey Hills – Kathy Malcolm / Duane Wolowiec Marshall White

7 Devorgilla Avenue Toorak – Michael Gibson/Robert Fletcher, Kay & Burton

64 Beaver St Malvern East – Justin Long / Rae Tomlinson, Marshall White

32 Kelvin Grove Prahran – Andrew McCann / Carla Fetter, Jellis Craig

‘Off-market’ Properties:

• Original single fronter, north rear, side ROW, Hawthorn East – circa mid $1m
• Single level downsizer, close to amenities, Black Rock – circa $1.3m
• Two family homes, north rear, Sandringham – circa high $1m
• Family home, comfortable with scope to improve, Highett – circa mid $1m
• Period home to renovate or new home site, central South Yarra – circa $7m
• Renovated period home, north part of Brighton – circa $2m
• Renovated semi attached Edwardian, Elwood – circa $1.8m
• Renovated single level close to Hawksburn Village – circa $2.4m
• Golden mile family home w pool, lift, city & beach views, Brighton – circa $4.5m
• Single level renovated Victorian w OSP and Pool, South Yarra – circa $3m
• Large family home on large land, up to 4 living zones, Hawthorn – circa high $7m
• Original brick Federation home or development site (STCA), Kew – circa early $3m

Auction Spotlight 

5 Rooding Street Brighton

Nick Johnstone working the large crowd to entice a bid for 5 Rooding St Brighton.

5 Rooding St Brighton delivers a fully renovated Edwardian home with North rear, in close proximity to the amenities of Bay St.  Equally suited to downsizers or young families, the auction attracted a large crowd along both sides of the street in the afternoon sunshine.  Similar to many auctions in recent times, once the call for offers was made by Nick Johnstone from Nick Johnstone Real Estate, he was greeted with silence even after placing a vendor bid of $2.15m to get things rolling. Buyers were content to hold back and see what would happen, not fussed about getting the first right of refusal. The property was passed in on the street.  Post auction negotiations saw the home sold for an undisclosed amount above $2.2m.

12 Ashleigh Road Armadale

Three bidders gave Fraser Cahill from Marshall White plenty to work with at the auction of 12 Ashleigh Road.

A four-bedroom family home over 2 levels, as already detailed above, was on offer at 12 Ashleigh Rd Armadale. Fraser Cahill led the Marshall White team for the auction with enthusiasm and it became an entertaining spectacle.  Things started slowly with a $2.6m vendor bid and the customary wait by bidders before two $10k offers. At this point all looked stalled and Fraser went in for a discussion with the vendors.  An offer of $5k was rejected at this stage, leading to slow bids back and forth before a sudden jump by bidder 1 to $2.7m. Back to $10k rises and consistent requests by bidder 1 on whether the home was on the market. A mix of smaller and larger bids and the entrance of a 3^rdbidder finally succeeded in gaining the call “it’s on the market” at $2.86m. A flurry of activity between bidder 1 and 3 swiftly brought the value to $3.14m at which point bidder 1 stepped out. Bidder 2 came back in for another appearance with the home eventually going to the third bidder for $3.180m.  A strong result!

The media might be reporting doom and gloom everywhere, but if you have an ‘A’ grade property, the market is suggesting anything but gloom. We actually think it’s a good time to buy (the right property, of course), as competition is definitely at lower levels than this time last year. That said, if you buy the wrong property you could be in real trouble if it doesn’t meet your needs and/or if you need to sell it again in the short term.

Auction numbers have been very low the past few weeks, as agents and campaigns resume after the Winter break. We are just starting to see an increase in the number of new properties hitting the net, most with September auction dates.

With many properties overpriced or not quite right (ie busy road, privacy issues, tricky flow etc), the good ones are receiving most of the buyer attention and some are being heavily fought out at auction.

What do we mean by the ‘good ones’?

• Position (as demonstrated below) as this can’t change – distance to transport, schools and shops

and a combination of the following:

• Orientation – access to natural light (this really impacts the overall feel of a property)
• Flexible floorplans – suit a variety of buyer groups (families, downsizers, couples, easy options to grow with families – single-storey homes are in particular demand)
• Well renovated – as lives become increasingly busy, buyers are prepared to pay for the privilege of moving in with nothing to do
• Unencumbered land or renovates, in the right location

That doesn’t mean that buyers will pay anything for an ‘A’ grader. The seller also needs to want to sell the property and be realistic about their price expectations. If they are searching for 10% more than last year’s highs, they may be disappointed to find themselves still in the category of home owner.

Vendors of ‘B’ or ‘C’ grade properties can also still be sellers, particularly if they are realistic about their price expectations and acknowledge their property’s shortcomings. Choosing an experienced selling agent will help achieve the desired outcome. We think this is very important. Last Saturday, six out of eight $1 million-plus Brighton East properties passed in  – and five of these were on a vendor bid.

The ‘off market’ market is particularly buoyant right now and most of our time has been spent in this space looking and buying for our clients. As a seller, it can be a good way to go, provided you have the right agent and have realistic expectations, particularly as bidders at auction are more scarce right now and advertising costs can add up quickly.

Highlights over the past fortnight:

Some of the better properties scheduled for Auctions on 25 August; an architect’s view

12 Derby Street Camberwell – Jonathon O’Donoghue / Alexandra Valmorbida, Jellis Craig

5 Rooding Street Brighton – Nick Johnstone / Sarah Korbel, Nick Johnstone RE

12 Ashleigh Road Armadale – Fraser Cahill / Richard Mackinnon, Marshall White

13 Larnook Street Prahran – Andrew James/James Annett, Hocking Stuart

‘Off-market’ Properties: 

• Renovated Edwardian home on large land, Sandringham – circa mid $3m
• Period home in need of renovation, central Brighton – high $3m
• Renovated Victorian near amenities, Hawthorn – high $1m
• Partially renovated Edwardian, Surrey Hills – circa mid $2m
• Federation family home, Bentleigh – early to mid $2m
• Tudor family home – circa mid $3m
• 90s family home in Gascoigne Estate, Malvern East – circa mid $3m
• Single fronted Victorian ready for renovation, Kew – circa $1.3m
• Renovated villa close to amenities, Armadale – circa $2m
• Single level family home, Hampton – circa mid $2m
• Dated home on good north rear land, Hampton – circa early $2m
• Renovated Hawthorne brick double fronter, Windsor – circa mid $1m
• Victorian with modern extension, Armadale – circa $8m

Auction Spotlight: 

67 Northcote Rd Armadale

Justin Long from Marshall White faced a large audience at this auction, who weren’t put off by the rain coming down mid-way through proceedings.

This pretty Victorian double fronter was going to appeal to both downsizers and some families with what it offered in this position. Parking at the front and rear is a real bonus, as is the excellent north-west light in the open plan living zone. The flats over the rear fence are reasonably screened for privacy in the garden.

More than 70 people came to participate or observe the Marshall White auction led by Justin Long. Immediately opening with a vendor bid of $2.7m, two parties soon entered the competition, swiftly taking the offering to $2.9m. After discussions with the vendors, the auction was recommenced without further bids, passing in to bidder two. Post-auction negotiations saw the property sold for $3.05m.

1 Fawkner St South Yarra

Jeremy Fox and the RT Edgar Team work the crowd along Fawkner St for the auction of the single fronter at number 1.

Conveniently located to Fawkner Park, as well as the shops and restaurants of Toorak Rd and Chapel St, this pretty single fronter with north rear was another solid offering that went under the hammer on Saturday.  Renovated and well presented, with further scope to improve over time, the home gains good light via the ROW along the west boundary. OSP is available into the rear courtyard.

When Jeremy Fox from RT Edgar commenced the auction seeking offers around $1.7-1.8m, the crowd of about 40 remained silent. Eventually an opening bid of $1.6m was made and accepted. A further party entered and bids bounced back and forth to $1.78m, at which point Jeremy went inside for further instructions. Not yet on the market, the bidding recommenced, with a third bidder joining the action with bidder two. Stalling at $1.9m and again not on the market after talking to the vendors, the property was passed in on the street. Bidder three went inside for further negotiations, eventually buying the home for $1,988,888.