Melbourne Auction Results – March 16th
There is no stopping the Melbourne property market! There has been an increase in auction activity in properties priced up to $500,000 this year.
In the year to date, about 17 per cent of all auction sales have taken place in this category compared to just 14 per cent for the same period last year. So far this year, there has been a total of 650 auctions in this segment of the market.
A clearance rate of 78 per cent was recorded this weekend compared to 70 per cent last weekend and 72 per cent this weekend last year. There were 939 auctions reported to the REIV today, with 735 selling and 204 being passed in, 98 of those on a vendor bid.
Clearance Rate: 78%
Reported Auctions: 939
Sold at Auction: 735
Passed in: 204
Sold Before: 126
Sold After: 0
Auction Volumes: $650.54m
Last Weekend: 331
Last Year: 947
Houses: 82%
Units: 73%
The Big News On Everybody’s Lips
The most talked about topic last week in property was Joe Hockey’s proposal to allow first home buyers to access their superannuation to buy and get into the property market. There were many commentators up in arms poo pooing the idea and how catastrophic it would be for our economy, how implementation of this idea would artificially inflate property prices, disadvantage these same people in retirement etc, you get the idea.
You need an asset which has kept up with inflation if you are hoping for a tree change, to go into a retirement village, aged or high care facility.
Firstly I’m not sure anyone else except the person making the decision to buy a property really has a say with what they should do with their own money, even if that money is their super. I know of people who have used their superannuation in hardship situations, for divorce settlements and even medical procedures so why not for a roof over your head, seems logical to me. After all many Australians with Superannuation indirectly invest in real estate through bank stocks and REIT’s etc so what’s the big deal?
My big concern is what people choose to buy with that money, the quality of the asset. I had people telling me that not everyone buys property for investment/capital growth but for lifestyle. My view on this is very simple and firm, whatever property you decide to buy whether to live in or as an investment, you should ensure that it has capital growth potential.
Why? Because for many, the single biggest investment someone makes in their lifetime is in their home. For so many when it comes to retirement the only thing most people have as collateral is their home. Trust me, you need an asset which at least has kept up with inflation if you are hoping for a tree change, to go into a retirement village, aged or high care facility.
So capital growth is everything when buying your next home, keep that in mind next time a spruiker tries to sell you the importance of a 6% return with no capital growth!
On The Street
In what turned out to be a warm Saturday afternoon we managed to secure a fantastic home for our buyers for not much more than land value.
We had spent the good part of 2 months searching and assessing just about every home that had come onto the Box Hill South market. For those who don’t know the area it has been growing in value at a rapid rate with auction records being set from one week to the next.
My clients Jon and Vanessa were keen to move into the area and be close to Kingswood College for their young children. We turned up at the auction on Saturday fully armed with the information of every sale in the area and knowing some properties had reached over $500,000 over the quote price – 21 Duncan Street, Box Hill Sth.
Whether the agent began the auction too high or there were competing auctions at the same time or just circumstance, with one bid we found ourselves in the perfect position to be able to negotiate with the vendor. This we did reaching agreement at a final price of $1.2mil to the delight of our purchasers.
What The Agents Are Saying
Properties priced under $600k were being heavily inspected by first home buyers, with agents reporting numbers per open upwards of 30 and bidders at auctions in the area over 5 in Greensborough, Watsonia, Macleod.
At the other end of the scale Barry Plant Doncaster reported another 100% clearance rate 6 from 6 being sold with some enormous reserves being smashed – one recording over $130k while another in Bulleen reaching $300 plus over the vendor’s reserve.
Finally, if you were wondering whether we are in boom territory in Melbourne, stop wondering we are! When you start hearing of stories where people are buying to “flip” properties – renovate and resell in the same year, you know we are in a hot speculative market.
It appears that I’m not the only one who is sensing boom like conditions at the moment. Let’s see what happens on Saturday the 28th, where more than 1000 properties are expected to be auctioned.
If there is another interest rate cut and stock begins to tighten as we go into Autumn and Winter we could see further upward pressure on price.
Top 5 Houses
- 106 Stanhope Street, Malvern $5,080,000
- 28 Rowland Street, Kew $3,840,000
- 11 Collington Avenue, Brighton $3,520,000
- 13 Springfield Avenue, Toorak $3,225,000
- 42 Bogong Avenue, Glen Waverley $2,925,000
Top 5 Bargain Houses
- 43 Vista Drive, Melton $190,500
- 1 Argyll Circuit, Melton West $223,000
- 71 Hilton Way, Melton West $245,000
- 19 Kynoch Street, Deer Park $291,000
- 44 Mulberry Pass, Craigieburn $330,000
Top 5 Apartments
- 17 Fraser Street, Malvern $3,690,000
- 26B Shoobra Road, Elsternwick $1,500,000
- 204/55-62 Beach Street, Port Melbourne $1,480,000
- 2/48 Albany Road, Toorak $1,320,000
- 5/20 Yarra Grove, Hawthorn $1,300,000
Top 5 Bargain Apartments
- 501/2 Eastern Place, Hawthorn East $95,000
- 5/160 Grange Road, Carnegie $240,000
- 1/156 Station Street, Fairfield $270,000
- 4/11 Wallarano Drive, Noble Park $275,000
- 18/46 Baker Street, Richmond $290,000
Source: REIV
