A chill has descended. At the Top End, the market’s caught in moody stand-offs — no one quite sure whether to pull the trigger or pull the doona over their heads. Buyers are skittish, sellers are split between hopeful and haunted and agents are eyeing their San Tropez floaties with more than usual caution. Still, beneath the frost, a few flames flicker — if you price it right, they will come.
The mood?
Nervous. Mortgages feel heavier. Fees sting more. A lot of quiet spreadsheeting going on behind closed doors.
And the buyers?
There one minute.
Gone the next.
Sometimes only one shows up – and even they might vanish by Monday.
Some vendors, bless them, still believe.
Deals? There are a few.
One local developer just inked a $50M+ deal at under $10k/sqm.
That’ll set a few eyebrows climbing north.
8 Robertson Street – $19 million. Done.
9 Huntingfield Road – three bidders, $1m over.
17 Linlithgow (not exactly lucky street territory) – three hands up, $2m over reserve.
If it’s no-more-to-do and feng shui’d, they will come.
Elsewhere? Crickets.
13 Moorakyne Avenue – classic family home in the heart of the private school belt – private auction, $7-8m expectations… silence.
Shifty Sands
The agent who pitched a $12m home, lifted it to $14m, then floated “$14m+”… and wondered why the room emptied.
Hint: if you keep upping while everyone else is lowering, you may find yourself having a very long conversation with your reflection.
Reality Rules (eventually)
46 Canberra Road started life at $11-12m.
Three months later – sold for $10m.
Sometimes it just takes a little time… and a little humility.
28 Marne Street, South Yarra – floated at $40-43m, now hoping for $35m.
Spring haircuts are coming early this year – and the scissors are sharp.
Feel the vibe
New government. Global skittishness. Super reform in the crosshairs. Missiles flying everywhere and now they want to sell?
Do they know something we don’t?
The super fund crowd awakens.
AAA property as inflation hedge?
Could be. Arbitrage, anyone?
The lessons of Pinocchio
Whispers of mutiny.
A captain still shouting orders as the lifeboats row away then mutineers return like pirates and take no prisoners. The booty is clients.
There’s a moral in this story?
Don’t lie to the market.
It has a long memory.
And a short temper.
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Today’s Market? The Usual
We’ve been saying it since 1997. At the top end, there is no market. Every home is unique. Every home is its own market.
Each begins with its fundamentals: The place, the home, the demand. No advocate or agent can change those. As a buyer or seller, what can change is the story that is told.
Sellers’ stories are in every real estate ad and every nudge, wink and trust me from an agent.
Advocates’ stories are, or should be, re-framing sellers’ understanding of what they have to sell. The reality check they need and the emotional persuasion to accept it.
It’s there that agreement is reached.
It’s there that two winners are born.