Monthly Property Update - November 2017
By | 2nd Nov 17

Melbourne's property market continues its solid performance in October and we didn't really see any slowing down in the market. Average clearance rates were still between 73% and 76% which shows it is still very much a sellers' market. In Sydney, the clearance rates are now dropping down between 50% to 60% and this is now when it has turned into more of a buyers' market where there are more opportunities to snap up good deals and bargains as the clearance rate balance changes. This hasn't happened in Melbourne yet and there will be more properties on offer for buyers in the Spring selling season so there will be more choice for buyers but it is still very much a sellers' market.

 

There is not much vendor discounting in Melbourne as buyers are still needing to compete for houses. They are having to compete strongly and properties are selling on average in Melbourne in around 25 days. This was around a 60 day average only a year ago, so just showing how strong the market is. Melbourne continues to get more expensive and we now have over 141 suburbs with a median house price of $1,000,000 or more. A number of suburbs have joined the $1,000,000 club including Newport, Coburg and Vermont and there will be more of the middle North and Western suburbs joining this club in the next year or two. In these middle suburbs, developers are out in force now due to the increased prices in the inner suburbs and they are now pushing out a bit further and taking advantage of the better buying opportunities in these suburbs. This has contributed to the phenomenal growth we have seen in many of these suburbs, particularly in the North and West where the capital growth rates in the past twelve months have been 20% to 40% per annum.

 

Melbourne continues to see some runaway results and the market hasn't peaked when we see these results. We shook our head when we saw the result of a house in Parkville which sold for $5,600,000, a whopping $1,800,000 over reserve. The owners only paid $980,000 in 1999 and it goes to show that good quality period homes with land are goldmines for capital growth in the future. We missed out on a development site for a developer with the vacant block of land in Brighton East which had permits for three townhouses sold for $555,000 over reserve. This shows how fast the market is moving because it was only purchased last year for $1,900,000 and sold as a mortgagee in possession sale for $2,155,000.

 

The Block auction finale is over and we were excited to be involved in our ninth series in a row. We bid on all five properties and were delighted to pick up the best buy of the night which was Hannah and Clint's property for $2,615,000, $467,000 below what Comedian David Hughes paid for the winning house by Josh and Elyse. It was great to buy our eighth property on The Block and this Block veteran has now bid on thirty of the thirty nine Block properties. We look forward to being involved in the upcoming series next year at The Gatwick Hotel in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda which should be a very interesting series. This will appeal more to the investor client, as we have been in the past six apartment series on The Block. This year we saw home buyers dominate The Block auctions.

 

Please don’t hesitate to check out our website for more information about our popular Buyer’s Advocate, Sellers Advocate, Owner’s Corporation and Property Management services and our latest newsletters as well as our future Group Block opportunities. Our newest opportunities are a block of five 2 bedroom villa units in St Albans, each with a car space (approximately $320,000 each) and a block of four 1 bedroom and two 2 bedroom villa units in Ballarat, each with a car space (approximately $150,000 each for the 1 bedroom units and approximately $200,000 each for the 2 bedroom units).