Now may be the cheapest time to buy.

While there is still a strong sense of control, thoughtful buying and sensibility over emotion due to interest rate levels and the cost of living, there is a change in confidence around property and property prices.

The growing sentiment is that prices can only go one way over the next few years and this will be predominantly driven by the strong number of migrants coming to Australia over the next two years and beyond.  The AFR on Oct 24 reported ‘Australia’s annual migrant intake likely hit a record 500,000 people in September’ and there is talk of migration increasing a further 500,000 to 750,000 over the next two years.

Even with proposed planning regulations (designed to speed up the process), the costs of building remain high, companies are still becoming insolvent and the population growth is too fast for time to build to catch up.

Buyers are recognising that now may be the cheapest time to buy.

As those who have been waiting for the ‘crash’ realise it’s unlikely to come, or that we are at the bottom and start to re-enter the market, there could be even more buyers vying for the keys of each home for sale.

On the opposite side, fewer vendors are prepared to sell first, as they realise the difficulty to buy back into the market. So, many vendors are making a conscious decision to wait and buy first, exacerbating low stock levels.

There is also a growing trend around how Australians view and manage the properties they own. Although property has been considered part of people’s investment strategy for a long time, the majority of these homes provided accommodation via the rental market. For many newer investors to Melbourne, there is a growing trend to buy and hold property with the intention of letting it sit, uninhabited indefinitely.

We could see a number of properties being purchased now, never available for sale again (or not for a very long time).

This does not mean that vendors can get over excited and expect to sell their properties for ‘more’ than the market dictates.

There are many properties at the moment where vendor expectations are significantly higher than market expectations.

We are seeing vendors rely often on only one great result and sometimes even their own emotional attachment to the property to justify their asking price. While purchasing a property for many is (and should be) an emotional decision, the emotional attachment is something that grows over time.

There are many variables when it comes to selling a home and no two homes are the same. Realistically, a vendor could sell their home three times in a year and get a different result every time.

So while the market may be on the move, both buyers and sellers should keep their feet on the ground to ensure they are making good decisions to maximise the outcomes they are trying achieve.

 

Some of the better properties currently on the market; an architect’s view 

600 Malvern Road, Prahran – Tom McCarthy/Simon Dale, Biggin & Scott 

74 Littlewood Street Hampton – Jenny Dwyer/Sandra Michael, Belle Property

26 Essex Road Surrey Hills – Stuart Evans/Désirée Wakim, Marshall White

 

‘Off-market’/Pre-market Properties:

• Brick 1930s home, 3-2-2, ~553sqm, north rear, Kew East – circa- $1.85m
• Victorian, 3-3-0, turn key property,~285sqm, west rear , Armadale – circa $2.7m
• Edwardian, free standing, 4-2-1, ~568sqm, east rear, Malvern – circa $3m
• Family home, 4-4-9, lift, fully renovated, South Yarra – circa $6m
• Contemporary family home, 5-5-4, north rear, Kew – circa $7m
• Semi detached brick, 2-1-1, east rear, Hawthorn East – circa $1.8m
• Modern brick home, 5-5-4, tennis court and pool, 1,483sqm, Kew – circa $9m
• House sized TH, 5-3-4 with pool, walk to Dendy Beach, Brighton – circa $5.3m
• French provincial 4-3-4 with pool, Brighton Beach – circa $7m
• Pretty Edwardian single fronter, 3-1-1, near village, Hampton – circa $2.6m
• Updated TH, 3-2-2, walk to schools/shops, Hampton – circa $1.6m
• Single level Cal Bung, 4-2-2, pool, near beach/village, Sandringham – circa $3.2m
• Art deco, prime location, 4-2-2, ~660sqm, Sandringham – circa $3m
• Renovated period weatherboard, 4-2-1, North Brighton – circa $2.6m
• Updated family home, 5-2-2, west rear ~650sqm, Hampton East – circa $2m
• Modern 5-3-2 family home, McKinnon Sec. zone, Bentleigh East – circa $2.55m
• Single level family home, 4-2-2 w pool, walk to beach/shops, Mentone – circa $2.4m
• Single-fronted updated detached period home Hawthorn – circa $3m

 

Auction Spotlights:

 

A lovely late spring day welcomed a solid crowd of well over 100 people in Hawthorn’s Grace Park to the auction of 9 Hilda Crescent. This property had a lot going for it; location, north facing rear, solid original building bones and a functional updated plan over a single level, with good car garaging at the rear. Auctioneer Gerald Delany wasted no time and gave his usual no-nonsense preamble – and looked for an opening vendor bid of $6.7m. This was advanced not long after at $7.3m and then two further bidders fought things out for several minutes to eventually see the property sell under the hammer for $8.065m. A strong auction result but no real surprise as this was a quality offering, and no doubt the new buyers will enjoy this home for many years to come.

 

 

 

A small crowd was treated to some beautiful summer weather. Attended by many neighbours and only one bidder, the auction took some time to get going. Opened by the auctioneer with a vendor bid of $6.5m, which was the bottom of the quote range, the one and only live bid came in next at $6.55m and at that point the property was passed in. A strong negotiation saw the property eventually sell comfortably over $7.0m.

 

 

A traditional family home on approx. 700sqm, looking for its next lease on life, was on offer at 12 Tennyson Street Highett. A large crowd of interested parties and neighbours came out to see Kevin Chokshi head up the Ray White team for auction day.  The home had been quoted at $1.05-1.15m throughout the campaign. An optimistic bidder opened proceedings with $900k, quickly receiving multiple counter offers to push past reserve at $1.15m.  While bid values gradually reduced, a total of seven parties ended up fighting for the property, eventually selling for $1.276m to the final group entering the auction.