Fresh Market News

Melbourne July 5th & 6th, 2008.

 

This weekend the REIV reported there were 395 auctions with a clearance or sold rate 66 percent.

Million Dollar Melbourne.

Mal James Principal Buyer Agent 0408 107 988.

Mal is on holidays with his family and will return next week.

The REIV reported the following on this week's auction activity.

A quiet winter's weekend saw a quiet weekend for the Melbourne auction market. There were 395 auctions this weekend and a clearance rate of 66 per cent was achieved.

135 homes passed in, of which 91 were passed in on a vendors bid

TOTAL AUCTIONS
This week: 395
Last week: 477
Last year: 458

S Sold at Auction: 193
SB Sold before Auction: 56
SA Sold after Auction: 11

PI Passed in: 135
VB Passed in on vendor's bid: 91

Clearance rate: 66%
This weekend last year: 85%

House Sales in Detail
TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 11 Jennings Street, Sandringham $2,000,000
2. 9 St Columbs Street, Hawthorn $1,890,000
3. 5A Longmore Street, St Kilda West $1,590,000
4. 263 The Boulevard , Port Melbourne $1,586,000
5. 4 Maryville Street, St Kilda East $1,255,000

 

Million Dollar Melbourne Results

ALBERT PARK
PI 46 Greig St WB 4rm 160sqm $950,000 VB res $1,030,000 Hocking Stuart
BALWYN
SB 53 Yerrin St 6rm 918sqm $1,250,000 Noel Jones
BALWYN NORTH
PS Midvale Av BV 10rm 640sqm $1,100,000 Noel Jones
BEAUMARIS
PS Fairleigh Av $1,075,000 Hocking Stuart
BLACK ROCK
S 14 Bent Pde WB 7rm 695sqm $1,140,000 Hocking Stuart
PS Bluff Rd Rend 7rm 911sqm $1,162,500 Buxton
BRIGHTON
S 52 Halifax St 8rm 319sqm $1,365,000 Buxton
PS Sandown St B 1064sqm $3,690,000 Buxton
PS Weatherly Gr $1,825,000 Hocking Stuart
BRIGHTON EAST
PI 2/95 Glencairn Av BV 7rm $950,000 VB res $1,020,000 Hodges
PI 25 Agnew St B 5rm 506sqm $1,100,000 VB res $1,200,000 Hodges
CAMBERWELL
PS Christowel St B 8rm 714sqm $1,650,000 Jellis Craig
CARNEGIE
PI 6 Lake St 1148sqm $1,200,000 VB res undisc Woodards
PS Wimmera St $1,040,000 Hocking Stuart
COBURG
PS Pentridge Village B 6rm s/div $1,060,000 Brace RE Thornbury/Abbott & Dean Coburg
DONCASTER
PI 16 Council St $1,100,000 VB lo $1,119,000 res $1,150,000 Ray White Manningham
ELSTERNWICK
PI 17 Stanley St B 6rm 676sqm $1,350,000 res undisc L J Hooker Elsternwick
PI 51 Gardenvale Rd B 6rm $950,000 VB res $1,080,000 Buxton
FAIRFIELD
SB 262-268 Heidelberg Rd v/land 1964sqm $2,800,000 Ray White
HAMPTON
PS Barnett St $1,180,000 Hocking Stuart
PS Bendigo St $2,900,000 Hocking Stuart
HAWTHORN
S 30 Lennox St WB 7rm 513sqm $1,125,000 Woodards
S 9 St Columbs St B 7rm 764sqm $1,890,000 Jellis Craig
HEIDELBERG
PI 4/116 Brown St C 7rm 496sqm $1,030,000 lo $1,055,000 res $1,100,000 Miles RE
PS Darebin St BV 5200sqm $4,800,000 Duncan Mcintyre
HIGHETT
S 7 Moira Av BV 6rm 704sqm $1,032,500 Buxton
KEW
S 114 Parkhill Rd WB 7rm 820sqm $1,121,000 Mclaren Kew
KEW EAST
S 49 Willow Gr WB 6rm 696sqm $1,078,000 Noel Jones
MONT ALBERT NORTH
PS Cairo Rd B 10rm 582sqm $1,340,000 Jellis Craig
PORT MELBOURNE
S 263 The Boulevard B 5rm $1,586,000 Chisholm & Gamon
PRAHRAN
PI 25 Elm Pl WB 6rm 10.37mx27.86m $1,040,000 VB res undisc Biggin & Scott
RIPPONLEA
PI 1 Glen Eira Rd B 5rm 750sqm $1,025,000 lo $1,100,000 res undisc Century 21 Wilson
SANDRINGHAM
SB 11 Jennings St B 8rm 725sqm $2,000,000 Hocking Stuart
PS Bay Rd Rend 6rm strata $1,102,000 Buxton
SOUTH YARRA
PI 7 Barry St B 6rm 300sqm $1,100,000 VB lo $1,150,000 res $1,250,000 Beller
ST KILDA EAST
S 4 Maryville St B 5rm 750sqm $1,255,000 Century 21 Wilson Pride
ST KILDA WEST
S 5A Longmore St B 5rm strata $1,590,000 Barry Plant
VIEW BANK
PI 2 Jedem Close BV 11rm $1,150,000 VB res $1,200,000 Morrison Kleeman
WARRANWOOD
PS Brysons Rd B $1,200,000 Treeby FN Ringwood

 

Show Me The Money

Peter Sinclair Principal Buyer Agent  0423 778 774

Auctions attended this week.

9 St Columbs Street, Hawthorn
A great crowd of about 150 people watched auctioneer Scott Patterson from Jellis Craig sell this well located home. Positives are the land size (approx 764sqm), great front and back gardens and the period features. The negatives are the positions of the bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom is separated from the bedrooms and the kitchen is right at the back of the home.

The auction was opened with a real bid of $1.60m and three bidders fought it out to the eventual sale price of $1.89m, and we believe it was on the market at $1.86m. Agents were quoting $1.8m - $2.0m prior to auction. We rated the home at 737/1000.

The home has a very warm, peaceful feel and its neighbour is the magnificent St Columbs church. According to REIV data, the home last sold in December 1995 for $477,000.

 

51 Gardenvale Road, Elsternwick
We rated this renovated four bedroom home at 618/1000. Tony Noonan from Buxton Albert Park was quoting $890 - $990 pre auction. Given recent comparable sales in the area, particularly next door, a renovated, double storey period home that sold in February this year for $1.28 million, we suggested the home should sell for more than $1.050mil. We believe there was interest in the home in the early stage of the campaign. About 50 people attended the auction and the vibe was good, but the bidding was not. The auctioneer called for bidding, then opened with a vendor bid of $900, still no bids. After the half time break, rallying the troops and still no bids, the auction finished on a vendor bid of $950, well below the $1.08m reserve reported in The Age on Sunday. The floor plan is not perfect and it is a bathroom short; but the period features, the good renovation and the proximity to Martin Street cafes would normally have meant a few interested parties. According to REIV data, the home last sold in February 2006 for $600,000.

This home is probably another victim of the early million dollar segment that does not seem to be overflowing with confident participants.

 

Architectural advisory

Adam Woledge Registered Architect 0413 318 079

The NQR (not quite right) Renovation.

 

 

• Great Canterbury location;
• Single storey Edwardian Home in great condition;
• North facing rear;
• Generous allotment;
• An experienced agent;
• A price tag which is not completely ridiculous.

All of the above suggests a winner. This house should walk out the door, right?
Well 19 Selwyn Street, Canterbury failed at auction recently and remains for sale at a reduced price of $1,685,000.

What isn’t mentioned here is that the design of the recently completed renovation could have been better. In fact it could have been much better. In its current form we rated this property a lowly 649/1000. With the following suggested alterations (or if this renovation had have taken a different design path, with no increased building cost), the rating could improve to 830/1000, making it a more attractive proposition for more people (and possibly resulting in a stress-free auction campaign).

What this now offers is a better main bedroom, larger deck area and more practical open plan living area, taking best advantage of northern orientation. Utility areas are consolidated to the central part of the house, minimising pipe runs. Importantly room sizes are of a more comfortable proportion – narrow spaces have been illuminated and storage increased.

Good, functional design is so important.

In difficult market times such as now any property which suffers in a design sense will be difficult to sell for good price.

 

Happy Spouse, Happy House

Melissa Ryan Principal Buyer Agent 0409 409 357

Note to self: Buy an original home and reap the rewards!

Weekend one of the school holidays and as expected a very slow auction weekend at the top end of town. Across the board, the lowest number of auctions for this year was on offer with 395 and a good clearance rate of 66%.

It is also important to look at the number of private sales each week. Looking at auction results only does not give us a balanced view of what is happening in the market. This week there was a massive 660 properties sold privately. This indicates a huge amount of activity which is positive.

11 Jennings Street, a stunning home in Sandringham, was to be auctioned on Saturday however it sold prior to auction. I rated the home 913/1000 and it has been www.james.net.au top rated property for the past 2 weeks. Hocking Stuart’s quote for the home was $1.850 - $2.050mil and sold for the figure we anticipated at $2 million. Jenny Dwyer, a Director of Hocking Stuart Sandringham, needs to be commended once again for the accuracy of her quote ranges.

The home has an interesting sales history, according to Valuer General Data the home was sold in February 1997 by Buxton for $395,000. Then in February 2003 it sold for $802,500 by Hocking Stuart. The new owners were responsible for the amazing renovation you see today.

It went from this:

To this:

...and sold in November 2005 by Century 21 for $1.712mil.

Hocking Stuart sold 11 Jennings during this week for $2 million. This is the fourth time the property has been sold since 1997. It is believed the current owner, originally from Texas, is sad to be leaving and is selling their home because they are being relocated to The United Kingdom.