Market Update 24th March 2020
By | 23rd Mar 20

The Melbourne property market had its first taste of the Coronavirus jitters as the clearance rate dropped to 66% from 927 reported auctions. There was a Super Saturday volume with over 1100 auctions scheduled although some were cancelled and some were sold beforehand. There is a growing trend of replacing the popular auction strategy with an expressions of interest campaign now.

 

We were able to purchase two houses side by side in Marchant Ave, Reservoir for $1,751,000 which was $99,000 below what a similar block sold for earlier this year in Lane Cres in an inferior position. We were delighted as our investor now owns 6 properties in a row in Marchant Avenue which totals over 38,000sqt which now has massive development potential. There was also an expressions of interest campaign for 18 Mitchell St Northcote which unfortunately didn’t get a result. They are now chasing a figure of $2,890,000.

 

There will be more opportunities for buyers now as some buyers are dropping off due to their employment prospects or fear of unemployment. This was the situation with a 2 bedroom semi-detached in Burrindi Road, Caulfield South which had 6 interested parties leading into the auction however only two bidders bid as four buyers dropped off due to employment issues and financial issues. The property passed in initially for $900,000 and then sold for $990,000 which was well below the vendors expectations of around $1,100,000. The upper end of the market continues to be fairly bullet proof with a house at 124 Ruskin St, Elwood selling above the $5,000,000 - $5,500,000 quote range with one of the highest results in Elwood in recent times for over $5,500,000.