Your questions answered …
- Pass-ins? All over the top end. Spinning wheels, little traction.
- Rhetoric? Up, action down. Agents and would-be advocates talking up Spring awakening. Our view? This is more than a holiday – think long-service leave.
- Direction? Top end leads, the rest follows. $5 million +? Dead end. Extinct. Only the desperate are selling.
- [pullquote]Nothing to be gained by bidding against a vendor.”[/pullquote]Buyers? Learning. Nothing to be gained by bidding against a vendor. Keep hands in pockets.
- Timing? Selling in Melbourne now? Kiss your $30-40,000 marketing campaign goodbye. Everyone’s thinking footy or on a beach far away. Join them.
- Wallflowers? They’ll be back (always are), but will remain unloved unless price reality sinks in.
- Quality? A rarity. But still sells.
- Pendulum? Swung firmly toward buyers. Welcome back.
David Morrell
Bayside: Sombre
Although there was a lift in the number of properties offers at auction this week, the sentiment of recent months was much the same and was reflected in modest attendances, reluctant bidding (when and if it happened) and generally a sombre mood.
Even private sales were thinner this week; which may be as a result of school holidays or a reflection on the lack of quality and choice of properties.
After some weeks of relative inactivity, Hampton and Sandringham bounced back into action with 18 properties put up – but only half that number finding buyers.
Highest on the day was 28 Service Street, Hampton; taken to $1.825 million by three bidders. Also contested was 19 Brighton Street, Sandringham, which sold immediately after auction for $1.75 million.
Less cheer was had at 34 Service Street: passed in on a vendor bid of $2,110,000. A real $2,125,000 was also shy of the mark and a reserve has been posted at $2,395,000; which may prove a mite ambitious.
Beaumaris and Black Rock still seem to be in slumber mode – modest auction activity, but with a noteworthy private sale indicating there is still a pulse. On 1271 sq m, 6 Bayview Crescent in Black Rock’s triangle was sold to a local developer for a respectable $2.2 million.
The Bentleighs were subdued. Only eight properties offered and a 50% clearance. Highest on the day was 14 Austin Street: sold for $1.1 million.
Brighton and its Easterly cousin offered greater choice this week: 15 auctions were scheduled, but only eight sold – an underwhelming result particularly considering that not much is likely to happen on Grand Final weekend.
Although reported as undisclosed, the result at 2 Albert Street, Middle Brighton, was the highest on the day. Three parties showed intent before it was passed in at just over $3 million and sold later for between $3.1 and $3.2 million. It’s on a site of 1260 sq m and that equates to land value of $235 per sq ft ($2,540 per sq m) – well below the expected in an area where $300+ has in the past been regularly achieved.
11 Norwood Avenue also sold – again for an undisclosed sum but understood to be around $2.4 million.
The lead pass-in was a fine Victorian attached home on the hill at 168 Church Street. It offers typical period style and spaciousness and its compact 560 sq m site seems much larger. Despite the persuasive charms of the auctioneer, nobody bit and a pass in of $1.95 million against a reserve of $2.25 million ensued. This is a fine slice of Brighton real estate (and not over the odds) so it says much as to the health of the Bayside property scene.
Let us hope next Saturday’s entertainment provides some relief from the tedium that has been endured so far this Spring. As long as Collingwood or Geelong is victorious then someone will be happy … just not a draw please!
See you in a couple of weeks …
Damian Taylor
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