Melbourne Auction Results – October 6, 2014
By Peter Sarmas on 6 Oct 2014
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| Melbourne Auction Results 29th-5th October 2014 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
74% 680 |
Sold at Auction: | 400 | Auction Volumes: | $340.58m | |
| Passed in: | 179 | Weekend Last Month: | 776 | ||
| Sold Before: | 100 | Weekend Last Year: | 832 | ||
| Sold After: | 1 | Houses: | 80% | ||
| Unreported: | 150 | Units: | 64% | ||
Buyers Ignore RBA Warning
Glorious weather over the weekend in Melbourne certainly didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of buyers looking to secure their home before the end of this year.
But what is actually happening in the market at the moment, and what is the Reserve Bank doing about interest rates making lending tougher for investors?
According to preliminary numbers from APM, this weekend’s clearance rate was 76 per cent from 734 reported auctions, a good sign for Melbourne’s property market.
“Astute buyers have a number of opportunities available to them at the moment.”
Despite the Governor of the Reserve Bank wanting to pour cold water over the two hot markets (Melbourne and Sydney), both cities recorded strong clearance rates this weekend.
It looks like Glenn Stevens may not threaten the current revival in our economy with a blanket solution like raising interest rates or limiting LVRs.
Instead, individual stress tests may be an option, coupled with a requirement for banks to hold more of their own shareholder capital to back loans made to property investors.
Trends in the Melbourne Market
A quick and very basic analysis of the numbers over the weekend shows some interesting trends. We can see where all the action is and isn’t at the moment.
Looking at prominent auction areas as a trend for nearby suburbs, strong performances were noticed in Glen Waverley, where only 1 of 13 properties was passed in; Mount Waverley, where the heat seems to be coming out of the market as 4 of 16 properties passed in; South Yarra, where only 2 of 16 auctions passed in; and inner city Richmond, where only 1 of 8 properties passed in.
On the negative side, real estate agents had a tougher time selling properties in Essendon, where more than half of the properties passed in (5 of 8). Surprisingly, they also had difficulty in Brunswick East and Brunswick West, where 7 of 18 properties passed in.
These figures alone show the unevenness of the current market and perhaps the difficulty a typical buyer faces when choosing the type and area of property.
“Strong performances were noticed in Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, South Yarra and Richmond…”
There definitely seems to be an aversion to one bedroom apartments, which is possibly due to the proliferation of new developments, or the toughening lending criteria imposed by banks for properties smaller than 50 square metres.
What’s for sure is that astute buyers have a number of opportunities available to them at the moment.
At the same time, I believe that as more stock comes onto the market – there will be nearly 4,000 new listings during October – more opportunities will present themselves, making it difficult for second and third grade properties to compete.
4 Quat Quatta Avenue, Ripponlea
Photo: The Home Page
On The Ground
I called a couple of my contacts in real estate around Melbourne to get some feedback on what’s happening in their areas.
Angelos Stefanis from Biggin Scott Elsternwick said “it was a solid day of auctions across the Biggin Scott group. Eighty per cent of properties across our network cleared.”
Closer to home, Mr Stefanis said they had “strong numbers inspecting properties across all price points, though things were slightly patchier in the sub $400,000 bracket. Nonetheless, bidding has been strong at most of our auctions.”
“East Bentleigh is extremely strong… and in very high demand from buyers.”
One property reflecting these sentiments was a two bedroom two bathroom apartment in Tennyson Street, St Kilda, which surpassed vendor and agent expectations in front of a crowd of more than 70 people.
“We expected the property to sell in the high $700,000s to low $800,000s” Mr Stefanis said. “But we were surprised to see five bidders fighting it out. The property eventually sold for $950,000.”
On Sunday, the property at 4 Quat Quatta in Ripponlea sold for $1.703 million in front of an 80 strong crowd. The reserve price was $1.5 million.
Claude Mery from Buxton Bentleigh also spoke of a successful weekend for sales.
“East Bentleigh is extremely strong at the moment and in very high demand from buyers,” he said. “We are in the fortunate position to have new stock coming onto the market during October and November to meet the current demand. Seven of the eight auctions we held in the nearby suburbs were sold on the day, reflective of the current strength in the market.
950 Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe
Photo: Miles Real Estate
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I attended auctions at three properties, one in East Melbourne, one in Richmond, and one in Ivanhoe.
The East Melbourne and Richmond properties weren’t so well inspected. Perhaps it was the property or the marketing campaign they were running. I would rather not comment.
However, the property located at 950 Heidelberg Road was strongly attended. It had room for another property at the rear and its own street frontage.
It was quoted from $950,000 to $1 million. The bidding started at $950,000 and the agent reached the reserve quickly in $50,000 rises. Eventually, it sold for $1.275 million, a strong result for a main road property.
Top 5 Houses
1. 11 Higinbotham Street, Brighton $2,425,000
2. 56 Blessington Street, St Kilda $2,295,000
3. 26 Berry Street, Clifton Hill $1,961,000
4. 1 Tanner Grove, Northcote $1,950,000
5. 43 Range Street, Camberwell $1,900,000
Top 5 Bargain Houses
1. 16 Cassia Road, Melton $231,000
2. 15 Light Fingers Street, Kurunjang $250,000
3. 1 Monterey Boulevard, Frankston North $260,000
4. 15 Coleman Crescent, Rosebud West $313,000
5. 6 Devas Court, Carrum Downs $320,000
Top 5 Apartments
1. 4.3/193 Domain Road, South Yarra $1,515,000
2. 6A Paschal Street, Bentleigh $1,265,000
3. 6B Paschal Street, Bentleigh $1,250,000
4. 33B Elimatta Road, Carnegie $1,091,000
5. 63B Townsend Street, Glen Waverley $1,088,000
Top 5 Bargain Apartments
1. 20/16 South Circular Road, Gladstone Park $190,000
2. 10/58 Sargood Street, Altona $223,000
3. 5/3 Arthur Street, South Yarra $227,500
4. 9/48A Noble Street, Noble Park $238,000
5. 12/59-60 Nepean Highway, Seaford $240,000
Source: REIV
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