With another clearance rate around 80% last weekend, all the signs suggest the market is continuing to roll along steadily. Over the next four weeks the number of properties being auctioned will continue.  If vendor expectations can be managed, the current statistics suggest there will still be buyers wanting when the market shuts down again for more school holidays.

Auction highlights:

Property observations:

Often the ‘quiet’ properties present when the market is less active, such as school holiday periods.

We are currently experiencing an increase in ‘off market’ options.

With continuing hype from the our media about the ‘Melbourne property bubble’, it appears some vendors may be wishing to capitalise on the current market, rather than risk taking their property to auction later this year, just in case there is some truth to the media stories.

Speaking with Jenny Dwyer, (Hocking Stuart) office is experiencing a spike in property appraisals. Nick Johnstone (Nick Johnstone Real Estate) agrees. “Yes definitely. Lots of people want to get in before they think (the market) will come off. I don’t think it will come off though!”

New off-markets:

4  Central Park Rd (Andrew McCann, Jellis Craig), under hammer, $2.34m, 3 bidders

There was a hint of spring in the air as auctioneer Andrew McCann walked onto the sunny front yard for this 2pm auction. A good crowd listened to his measured and considered preamble and the auction commenced with a solid $2m opening crowd bid. There was good bidding at a steady pace for a few minutes with two extra bidders, then the property ultimately sold under the hammer for $2.34m. This represents a very sold result indeed, with a renovated product on bigger land next door (#4a) selling in October last year for around $20.000 more.

Architectural Concept:

The Gascoigne Estate is one on Melbourne’s most renown precincts, and given.
4 Central Park Road is a great opportunity for renovation that would work well.

Below represents a potential design option, keeping the building footprint compact (maximising the backyard area), providing good bedroom separation (main down and secondary rooms upstairs) and having a blend of formal and informal living areas). This design is of course subject to required council approval.

Auction Spotlight:

2 Davies St, Brighton East (Russ Enticott, Hodges), under hammer, $1.59m, 4 bidders

The crowd seemed to grow steadily throughout this Brighton East auction & eventually around 50 people huddled around to watch Russ Enticott in action. Russ went through the usual preliminaries and highlighted the home’s great location before asking for an opening bid. An offer of $1.25m came from a gentleman to his right before Bidder 2 tabled $1.27m. Bidder 3 was in at $1.3m and strong bidding continued before Bidder 4 offered $1.51m. Julian Augustini headed inside to refer to the vendor – without breaking Russ’ momentum – and at $1.57m Russ announced we were on the market. A young couple directly opposite our auctioneer was the winner on the day, taking the keys to the home at $1.59m.

110 Mitford St, Elwood (Torsten Kasper, Chisholm & Gamon), after auction, $1.59m, 1 bidder

Spread out on all four corners of the street, the crowd of around 50 waited quietly for auctioneer Torsten Kasper to begin proceedings. Torsten extolled the many highlights of the home – its fantastic location,  an easy walk to just about everywhere. A vendor bid of $1.5m kicked off the auction before Bidder 1 chipped in $1.52m. After some silence from the crowd, Torsten headed inside to refer to his vendor. Back outside, still silence, and the property was passed in to the sole bidder for further negotiations. Bought a short time after for $1.59m.

Agent Opinion: How are stock levels looking as we head towards the September school holidays and beyond?

Richard Winneke (Jellis Craig): It appears that September/October 2015 will possibly be a little quieter than the previous year for properties to choose from. However, August is certainly much busier than in years gone by.