Property Market Update 17th & 18th Oct
By | 20th Oct 15

Melbourne’s property market prices are at an all-time high with median house prices at $730,000 and median unit prices at $532,000. There has been an increase in the number of million dollar suburbs from 78 to 87 with Bentleigh East, Oakleigh East, Oakleigh, Blackburn South, Balaclava and Burwood East joining the million dollar club for the first time.

A clearance rate of 74 per cent was recorded this weekend compared to 72 per cent last weekend and 72 per cent this weekend last year. There were 1080 auctions reported to the REIV with 795 selling and 285 being passed in, 125 of those on a vendor bid. Bayside suburbs have attracted strong competition in recent months, with Brighton, Seaford and Dromana topping the list for price growth in the September quarter.  (Source REIV)

The spring market is showing no signs of slowing for family homes, even though there is much more supply with many Super Saturday auction weekends with 1,000 plus auction in spring.

Not all sellers will make a fortune selling this Spring season as many vendors make simple mistakes when selling a property as highlighted by an article published by the Herald Sun this week. When selling your property it is important to do your research and know the prices in your area. Too many sellers will select the agent who promises to get them the highest price. In this market when many people are buying before they sell, this can be a very risky strategy. To read this full article, click here.

There was much talk about Westpac’s 20 basis point interest rate rise independent of the RBA and what affect this would have on the market. This is the first time in 3.5 years that a bank has changed interest rates out of step with the Reserve Bank and it is widely expected that other banks will now follow suit.  Westpac boss Brian Hartzer has blamed new regulatory rules, which he said meant the bank had to stash about $6 billion more in its coffers by the beginning of next financial year. The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority has said it wants banks to have “unquestionably strong” capital reserves so as to create financial buffers in case of another global financial crisis.

It was great to see our Mortgage Broker client Gayle Roberts featured in an article this week that discussed top performing investment suburbs, titled "Hitting the Investment Sweet Spot".  The article discussed suburbs that have managed to strike a balance between good capital growth and rental returns. Gayle's investment property in Port Melbourne has continued to provide both returns and other suburbs that were named included Frankston, Keysborough, Bonbeach, Mooroolbark, Altona, Caulfield South, Fitzroy North, St Kilda East and Thornbury were also mentioned. To read this article, click here.

 Last week we viewed The Block apartments with prospective buyers and received the most positive buyer feedback from all seven series of The Block I have been involved with.  The contestants have done a great job and the views from the apartments are spectacular. We look forward to The Block auctions being held in November.

Don’t forget about our last Investor’s Club meeting will be held on November 19th and places are filling fast. Visit our website for further details on the speakers, to book your place and to view past speakers video's at http://advantageproperty.com.au/investor-club.

Until next week, happy investing towards a wonderful life.