Source:REIV

Market Wrap (REIV)

A clearance rate of 79 per cent was recorded this weekend compared to 75 per cent last weekend and 81 per cent this weekend last year. There were 516 auctions reported to the REIV, with 408 selling and 108 being passed in, 45 of those on a vendor bid. Melbourne’s north is performing strongly at present – Mill Park and South Morang have recorded the highest auction sales this month, with South Morang also delivering nine per cent price growth in the June quarter.

Melbourne and Sydney Markets Defy Experts

NAB released the bank’s second quarter survey last week and the results will surprise many. House prices are set to rise faster than the predicted 5.1 per cent this year due to stronger than expected growth in Melbourne and Sydney (AFR).

Price growth has picked up since March in the two largest cities and in the year to June, Melbourne homes rose 12.1 per cent, while Sydney gained 11 per cent, the NAB’s latest quarterly survey shows. 

Brisbane (7.6 per cent), Adelaide (3.9 per cent) and Hobart (4.9 per cent) also benefited from “solid and generally better-than-expected” growth, the report said, explaining the increase in its annual forecast from the 1.5 per cent national figure it predicted three months ago. 

Source: Shuttesrstock

But the good news ends here with house price growth next year expected to slow to a meager 0.5 per cent across Australia.

“We have maintained our expectation that the housing market will cool appreciably, despite the near-term strength,” the report says. “Our average national house price forecast for 2016 has been revised up…Price growth is then forecast to stall while fundamentals (namely wages) begin to catch up.”

The outlook for apartments is worse, with prices expected to fall in every city except Adelaide and Hobart. 

The above findings fall in line with current strong housing activity in Melbourne. We are seeing more first home buyers and investors looking to secure a property.

Auction clearance numbers over the weekend were solid reaching the critical 80 per cent mark (APM). “We are now moving from a market which has performed consistently to one performing strongly. Since the July 2^nd election, buyer and bidder numbers have consistently increased and this trend is set to continue”.

Globally, share markets have regained their losses from last year further adding stability and boosting consumer confidence.

A Grade stock in the inner city continues to be elusive for many agents. The word on the street though is that vendors are beginning to prepare their homes for an August sale, one of the best selling months on the calendar.

Street Advocate, 18 Diana St, Croydon

This week we successfully secured the sale of 18 Diana St, Croydon for our vendor Phil.

We were given the task 6 weeks ago to advise on how to present the property and find the best agent to achieve a maximum selling price.

The transformation we undertook with the owner was nothing short of miraculous in such a short space of time.

We knew timing would be critical with the uncertainty of an election and the prospect of a Labor government potentially changing the current negative gearing and capital gain rules, so we had to move fast.

After successfully moving two truck loads of furniture, resurfacing the drive and preparing the front and rear gardens as well as completing years of unfinished odd jobs the house was ready for sale in just two weeks.

Every step of the campaign including preparation of the house was meticulously planned and carried out.

Photos and copy were done with the focus on the potential subdivision of the property. After studying the Croydon market and current demand for this type of property we decided against the advice of two agents instead choosing to sell via a tender process rather than auction.  

This decision proved to be financially beneficial for the owner. After a four week campaign we had over five interested parties looking to make an offer.

The first offer we received was at the vendor’s reserve at $680,000. Three other offers also came in, one at $699,500 and two at $620,000 with the same settlement terms. All offers were unconditional, we insisted on this.

The final two buyers were then asked to compete one last time, the result, an offer of $630,000 and $638,000. No surprise our vendor was thrilled with the result.

Although having sold before, Phil acknowledged our strategy added  10’s of thousands to the final price, very important for his next move. Well done Phil!

What our Clients Are Saying?

We found Peter Sarmas from Street Advocate took the hassle out of finding the right agent to sell our property and ensured a maximum result. By using Peter and his company we avoided the need to come up to speed on the most effective way to sell our property, as Peter has many years of experience to leverage on.

Not only did Peter find the best agent and negotiate a great commission rate for us, his fee was included in this negotiated fee! He kept up to date weekly with all the details, allowing us to focus on other things. We got a fantastic outcome, $130k above the reserve price. For us using Peter again would be a no-brainer.

Karl and Henty Punt, 118 Bridge St, Eltham

Thinking of buying or selling a home?

Visit our Street Advocate website or send an enquiry below or just call

Peter Sarmas on 0418 740 606.