Monthly Property Update- October 2017
By | 9th Oct 17

Melbourne’s property market continues its solid performance and in September we saw no slowing down of the market place with average clearance rates being around 75% which shows it is still very much a sellers’ market. Buyers are still having to compete very hard for family homes in good locations. Melbourne is experiencing some of the most phenomenal growth that I have ever seen over the last 22 years of my property buying and we saw this recently in Elsey Road, Reservoir where a house was purchased for $750,000 a year ago and the vendors added value by getting permits for four townhouses and just sold the property for $1,070,000, $320,000 or 42% growth. Having permits endorsed can be a great way to add value to a property and increase the value over night as was shown above.

We had a fantastic result for a client that purchased in Ridley Street, Albion which only settled in July for $640,000 and they just sold the property without any changes for $785,000. The property was purchased off market and it had existing endorsed plans for another unit at the rear which is what added the extra value. Even good quality apartments in good locations are experiencing some solid growth as we purchased a two bedroom apartment in Albion Street, South Yarra for $510,000 only twelve months ago and a comparable property in the same block just sold for $666,000.

There definitely has been an increase in the amount of First Home Buyers in the Melbourne market place since the stamp duty concessions increased from the 1st of July. The latest figures show that there has been a 10% increase in the Melbourne market in the last month and we are seeing that at auctions of properties in the sub $750,000 category. Previously, interest was higher up to $600,000 but buyers are now able to get concessions up to $750,000 and First Home Buyers are definitely dominating that sub $750,000 market, taking over the mantel from investors who have dropped off a bit since the change in APRA lending policies.

Many investors don’t buy investment grade property and make a mistake when they purchase their first property and never get to purchase a second property to add to their portfolio. In Australia 70% of investors own one investment property and unfortunately only 19% get to that second property and only 9% get to three or more which is what we think investors need to secure their financial future, as the strategy in the future should be to sell down some of those properties to make them debt free and have a passive income coming in.  

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 new future one bedroom Group Block opportunity in Brunswick East (approximately $330,000 each) and our Frankston one bedroom villa unit opportunity (approximately $250,000-$270,000 each), open for inspection Thursday 12th October from 5:30-6:00pm. Register your interest by emailing mfairbank@advantageproperty.com.au