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 features of the weekend, certainly at the upper end of the market, were reduced numbers of tyre kickers and lower crowd numbers.
We now face a few months of market interruptus – school holidays, Easter weekend, car races and other diversions – which have the effect of creating crescendo weekends when there are no other distractions. In those weekends, when there is much on offer, buyers are necessarily spread more thinly and that can lead to improved purchasing opportunities (none of which alters our caution that you should be ruled by quality before price and both before timing).
Hits …
- 7 Toorak Avenue, Toorak. Two bidders started at $2.2 million and the property was immediately on the market. The eventual celebrity purchaser bought it for $2.776 million – $3,324 per square metre and low by Toorak standards.
- 18 Kent Court, Toorak, on 484 square metres, sold for $2,240,000; equating to $4,628 per square metre. In this case, size did not matter.
- 35 Mason Street, Hawthorn, a smartly renovated double-fronted Victorian house on 725 square metres. Vigorous competition pushed it well over its expected “around $3 million” to an eventual sale at $3,450,000.
- 46 Illawarra Road, Hawthorn. Perched atop Scotch Hill, a very modern two-storey house on 623 square metres. Snapped up before auction at $4,250,000.
- 1/2 Jolimont Terrace, East Melbourne, a four room strata apartment, sold for $1,745,000.
- 18 Jolimont Terrace, East Melbourne, sold for $3 million.
And misses …
- 23 Lisson Grove, Hawthorn. A crowd of about 40 gathered for a dour affair: an opening bid of $3.5 million, a vendor bid of $3.6 million, then passed in with the reserve at $3.950 million. (The expectation last year was well in excess of $4 million.)
- 50 Hotham Street, East Melbourne, still remains for sale at $7.25 million after being passed in at auction late last year.
An interesting test of the premium end of the market will be 266 Danks Street, Middle Park. A substantial Queen Anne style house only a block from the beach, it was quietly on the market a couple of years ago and has now been re-offered. It is on a substantial 1,207 square metres, one of the single largest land holdings on the inner bayside.
Down on the Peninsula, things continue to waft along and will move slowly in to winter hibernation over the next three months.
So, what’s in store? Many of those who are hoping for a quick turnaround and a satisfactory result will be rewarded by no more than a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down. And, as always, there will be exceptions to all rules.
Christopher Koren
Morrelli phone-in
Now interstate fighting the good fight, but never without opinions, some notes on the weekend:
- Lots of spruikers on lots of pavements
- Many indifferent audiences
- Right house? Crowds of bidders
- Almost no right houses
- Atmosphere becoming etherial (no, not that, as in ether)
- Not yet duck season, but war declared between buyers and agents – vendors unaligned
- So few quality top end transactions that sentiment becomes impossible to judge
- Fewer agents with tax installment problems this quarter
David Morrell
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Bayside: Damian’s report held over
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What are you waiting for?
It’s better to put your money in there because it’s tax free when you
sell,” another buyers’ agent, David Morrell of Morrell & Koren in
Melbourne, says. …