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The goss … Innocent Party (IP) meets Top Agent (TA), “I have a house to sell, it should fetch $8 million.” “Ah!” says TA, “Let’s have an expressions of interest campaign. We can spend $80,000 on advertising!” “But what if there’s not much interest? What if there is just one person?” [pullquote]…top-of-the-range dummy bidding opportunity.”[/pullquote] “No […]

Glory Alabama! The weekend was meant to be the first full indication of the direction 2011 is likely to proceed, yet those who anticipated a market with continued momentum have proved somewhat … premature. [pullquote]… reduced numbers of tyre kickers and lower crowd numbers.”[/pullquote]Of the auctions held, a third failed to sell. The most noticeable

And so we begin, as every year, on the cliff-tops of Sorrento and Portsea. Ilyuka, anyone? $28 million and the new owner is visible from the moon (watch the movie); but that was the exception. The rest of the cliff-top (forgive this) fell off the cliff. Last summer two cliff-toppers went for auction with $6

If there was a Fruit Shop Theory of Real Estate, and there may yet be, the past few months may be understood more easily. On entering the shop, you’re greeted by the fruiterer. Charming man. Beautifully dressed: tailored suit, gold watch and BMW tie-pin. He has a smile which makes you nervous. The first thing

There are trends and there are exceptions. When the exceptions cease to be exceptional, that could be a new trend emerging or, like waves on a beach, it could quietly disappear into the sand. All of which is of casual interest to the casual observer but is in the you-bet-your-future category if you are buying

Here, there, everywhere you look there’s another pundit with the definitive view on what the market is up to/will do next/has done. Whatever. Here a boom, there all gloom and did you see the number of people (or the absence of people) bidding/attending inspections/putting their heads in their hands and deciding to go to the

… the times they are a changin’. Along with all the other terms we import from the U.S., “gazundering” is a recent arrival – and it signals a market in turnaround. Gazumping occurs in rising markets – gazundering is its evil twin (OK, they’re both evil). The gazunderer makes an offer which, when accepted, is then

Snap! Weekend auctioneer stares at feet. Embarrassment? 100 in the throng and not a murmer? Not a whiff of a bid? What‘s his next trick? Snap! Media – the recipients of the rivers of real estate advertising gold – now acknowledging that cracks are appearing in the market. Snap! More and more, the top end is

“Super Saturday!” cried the touts. “Best day to sell of the year!” And then, at the top end, just about all we heard were the squelchings of a very wet track. Judged by lack of finishers, the worst weekend of the last 12 months. A few of the good ones did sell and sold well

It’s been opined that the sums bet on a horse race have little relationship to the value of the horses in the field. We’re seeing a fair bit of that at the top end. There’s a disconnect between prices and values – only it’s houses, not horses – particularly in the minds of many vendors