August 2009

The law of gravity has been repealed, what goes up stays there and it’s 120 days to Christmas. OK, it’s Melbourne in Spring. We, as advocates, spend a lot of time clenching our fists and squeezing our eyes closed and willing, willing , willing a crack to open in the market and for prices to […]

What’s happening? Without a lot of warning, the favoured few are kicking the ball out on the full. Geelong, St Kilda, real estate. The certanties are suddenly less certain, the confidence evaporating. How can we tell? Those vendors whose expectations have moved higher than the market are lonely as shags on rocks. The lemons are

The stock market has got up off its knees and is bolting Usainly. Melbourne house prices are taking off after them. Which raises an ugly question: are we bubbling again? Are we heading toward another almighty pop? Look at the fundamentals (does anyone still pay any attention to incomes, jobs, profits?) and there seems no

The weekend’s news from the very top end? There was none – at least none north of Brighton. And what action there was lacked the passion of previous weeks. But clearance rates are still soaring? Yes. Sure. Providing you include houses which were passed in (often with no sign of a bid) then sold later

Who do you think can give you the most accurate estimate of what a house will sell for at auction? An estate agent or a buyers’ advocate? No prizes for choosing the advocate, but why? Why are so many agents so wrong so often? Why can we, weeks ahead of an auction, so often predict