Archive for October 2018

Jeremy Fox from RT Edgar looks for bidders at 17 Struan St Toorak and finds two. The property passed in for $3.56m and sold after for an undisclosed amount.

We believe the weekend results confirm our previous reports that Melbourne is running a two-tiered market.

The well positioned, correctly priced and increasingly scarce properties are attracting good competition and some strong results (particularly if the property suits the downsizer market), while the remaining homes, those needing work, with not-quite-right floorplans, poor orientation, and/or location issues, struggle to attract any interest, particularly if the vendors have high expectations.

The downsizer market (who, in general, are not as reliant on finance for their purchase) continues to grow and strengthen as more buyers enter the market searching for single-storey homes in the quiet streets close to amenities.  Examples on the weekend could be seen at 5 Edward Street Armadale – six bidders, on the market at $1.42m, selling for $1.82m and 8 Gordon Crescent Black Rock – four bidders, on the market at $2.475m, selling for $2.63m.

While quite different in their offering, it was their similarities, which are constantly in demand and short supply, that saw 10 bidders between them where other homes saw none.  Both sold well above their respective reserves, which is perhaps the other key to their successful sale – the vendors of both properties had realistic price expectations.

The weekend saw 20 reported homes sell over $3 million, of which over half were in the Stonnington Council.  The top end of the market is still travelling well, with many buyers again not as reliant on finance.  The bigger issue is finding the stock.

Highlights:

Some of the better properties scheduled for Auction on 10 November; an architect’s view 

48 Melville Street Hawthorn –  Geordie Dixon/George Bushby, Jellis Craig

57 Mary Street St Kilda West –  Adrian Wood/Michael Paproth, The Agency

41 Bamfield Street Sandringham –  Richard Slade/Peter Hickey, Buxton

18 Lalbert Crescent Prahran –  Darren Lewenberg/Grant Samuel, Kay & Burton

‘Off-market’ Properties:

• Art Deco renovation opportunity with north rear, Clifton Hill – circa high $2m
• Converted church hall, large family home, St Kilda West – circa early $7m
• Family-sized Californian Bungalow, Malvern East – circa early $2m
• Fully renovated Californian Bungalow, Malvern East – circa mid $3m
• Edwardian high on the Hill on 890sqm, Sandringham – circa $3m
• Fully renovated family home on 1,045sqm, Hawthorn – circa high $5m
• Within 1800s shell, 2 bed, 3 bath, 3 Garage, Port Melbourne – circa $2m

Auction Spotlight:

 5 Edward Street Armadale

Rob Vickers-Willis take the reins for this auction and brings home the property in a canter.

Even in this market, this auction was going to fire and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Why? Scarcity. And something this market really wants and needs: single level. Good car garaging. No body corporate. Light-and-bright and cleverly architect-designed – well done again Nicholas Day. A healthy crowd gathered (most were here to buy) and there was a real buzz. Bidding started off with a low-ball $1.2m offering – which I thought was a bit silly really, if your goal is to try and buy the home. It didn’t take too long for this auction to take off and the property was announced on the market at $1.42m then sold for $1.82m. Six bidders put their hands up here, but there could have been more had they had a chance to bid. Auction was all over in about five minutes, and I overheard someone use the word ‘crazy’ with respect, but I didn’t think it was really. Good properties in the hands of good agents with realistic vendors tend to always sell – and sell well.

7 Kingston Street Malvern East

A healthy crowd enjoyed the sun and the auction fronting on to Malvern East’s iconic Central Park.

On offer here was a solid, original home with healthy bones and excellent potential. Car access via the southern side of the house was generous and there was good opportunity for prized northwest light in the backyard. The renovation could be relatively straightforward and it will be interesting to watch the progress of this property in the coming months/years as it transforms.  But the X factor was the location – there are not too many properties which front on to Central Park, but this one did. Auctioneer John Morrisby gave a spirited preamble, and officially kicked the auction off on a vendor bid of $4.15m. Not long after, this was advanced by two bidders in a steady pace of to-and-fro bidding. The property was announced on the market at $4.25m and then sold under the hammer for $4.825m not long after. Well done to the buyer – they have done well.

Bigger numbers inspecting and attending auctions with the arrival of spring, but buyers have firmer limits and are more cautious to bid.

The Spring market has now well and truly kicked off.  Whether it is the improved weather, or the opportunity to view some new offerings, we’ve seen an increase in the number of buyers inspecting homes.

Those buyers without homes are coming to the realisation that Christmas is nearly upon us, with a limited number of auction weekends before the market closes up until after Australia Day.  Take the Cup and Election weekends out of the mix and we are looking at only eight more good auction Saturdays, two of which already have campaigns underway.

Certainly, the better homes that are marketed and quoted accurately are seeing competition, albeit more tentatively off the mark.   Buyers definitely seem to have more firm limits, however. Unlike  2016-17, where auctions started strongly and buyers slowly kept edging over their limits when bidding, we are seeing far more cautious initial bids that become stronger as a second and sometimes third bidder become involved, particularly if the home is announced ‘on the market’.

We are also seeing some homes defying the market trend.  Homes combining scarcity with position are still performing above and beyond any previous market results.  We inspected a very good home in Armadale, in a premium location, which was ‘opened’ for the first time last week and bought at the asking price by the first person through.

We think it is important in any market to buy a good property first.  It is easy to get caught in the trap of a down market by buying something just because it is cheap, even if it isn’t quite right.  The good homes become less available in a down market, particularly if vendors don’t have to sell.  With fewer homes to compete with, the really good ones can still outperform.  One of the hardest things is knowing what makes a home really good and then finding one that is actually really for sale.

Highlights:

Some of the better properties scheduled for Auction on 20 October; an architect’s view

20 Edro Avenue Brighton East – Peter Kennett, Chelsea Cargill, Hocking Stuart

75 Barkly Avenue Armadale – Lachie Fraser-Smith, Will Bennison, Jellis Craig

22 Thanet Street Malvern – Tom McCarthy, Biggin & Scott

15 Derby Street Camberwell – Ross Stryker / Nick O’Halloran, Jellis Craig 

‘Off-market’ Properties: 

• Fully renovated family home on 1,020sqm, Malvern East – circa early $4m
• Double fronted Edwardian w scope to improve, Camberwell – circa $2.3m
• Renovated two storey Edwardian, DLUG, Armadale – circa early $3m
• Development site w NOD for plans, Kew – over $4m
• Edwardian in need of renovation on 650sqm, Glen Iris – circa $2.65m
• Two storey family home with good sized garden, pool, Malvern East – circa $3m
• 4 bed Edwardian with open plan rear, Malvern East – circa $2.6m
• 4-5 bed family home with period features, Canterbury – circa $2.6m
• Renovated 3 bedroom Edwardian, close to amenities, Kew – circa high $1m
• Large Edwardian on 920sqm with indoor pool, DLUG, Alphington – over $3m
• Modern family home on 1,114sqm, walk to Church St, Brighton – circa $6m

Auction Spotlight:

19 Collingwood St Sandringham

19 Collingwood St Sandringham – one of the few homes that we saw sell under the hammer on the weekend.

19 Collingwood Street (quoted $1.6-1.76m) offered a comfortable period home on a very good piece of land.  Relatively flat with no easements, we thought the land was the valuable component of the property, located in a quiet street and well located to the shops, station and beach.  The home was functional enough and had been updated along the way, making it quite liveable; however, the position on the block and orientation to the south ensured the living rooms received limited natural light for most of the day.  Simone Chin from Nick Johnstone Real Estate called the auction. When no opening bids were forthcoming, she commenced with a vendor bid of $1.75m. Looking like another pass-in was imminent, finally a genuine bidder emerged offering $10,000.  With that, a second bidder also joined the game.  Extracting bids was slow until the property was announced on the market at $1.83m, with the final result settling at $1.845m.

60 Ruskin Street Elwood

Sam Inan from Hocking Stuart had a crowd of over 60 people along both sides of the street to work with at the auction of 60 Ruskin St Elwood.

The home on offer at 60 Ruskin St Elwood (quoted $2.1-2.3m) hides its modern and stylish renovation behind an understated Edwardian façade. It delivers good family accommodation with two living zones and a huge central bathroom. Although the south one of the pair, excellent light is achieved internally through skylights and a glass rear wall up to the cathedral ceiling.  While plenty of locals came to see the action just to see how the market was going in their area, a number of serious looking buyers were in the crowd.  Standard bidding shyness caused the usual silence once bids were called for and Sam Inan from Hocking Stuart was forced to place a vendor bid of $2.1m.  Further inaction made Sam go inside to give everyone some thinking time. Just when it looked like passing in, a surprise bid of $2.165m was placed by a young couple, followed by another couple counteroffering a further $10k. Bidder one replied equally before bidder two made a slightly larger jump to settle on $2.2m where the home was eventually passed in. Discussions continued inside and the property was sold shortly after for an undisclosed price a little higher.