Good afternoon,
To say the least, I was quite shocked when I saw the REIV auction clearance rate on Saturday night sitting at 90%. But after investigating this further, this is not an accurate snapshot of the current market. The 28th of March was meant to be a Super Saturday auction day with well over 1,300 properties going under the hammer. In the end, it was reported that there were only 363 auctions with many selling before hand. It must be noted that 998 auctions were withdrawn due to the vendor withdrawing their property from market or converting the auction to a private sale campaign.
Overall, there were still 425 properties that sold last week which is half of what would have likely occurred had there been no Covid-19. That being said, with the level of uncertainty we are currently facing, I feel this still demonstrates that we are in an active market with both buyers and sellers willing to transact.
Selling agents are adapting new ways to enable transactions to still occur. Many agents are uploading virtual tours of their properties to enable the buyer to get a better snapshot of the property prior to inspecting privately. Auctions are now being conducted online which is proving to be successful where other transactions are happening via private sale treaty or in an off market capacity.
Rental agents (including ourselves) are also adapting to the forever changing space we are working within. Inspections are being conducted in a private capacity with virtual tours of properties are being loaded onto website portals. Our agents are also pre-qualifying tenants prior to walking through properties to ensure they have capacity to pay rent even in the unfortunate event they may lose their job.
Although the current market has its challenges, it is fantastic to see how the industry is adapting and many of these changes will likely prove to be beneficial in the way the industry transacts in the future.
Stay safe and have a great week.
Kim Easterbrook
CLEARANCE RATES
MELBOURNE | March 29, 2020
This week: 363 Auctions | Clearance: 90% | Last Year: 55% [source: REIV]
Elite Buyer Success
66 Gamon Street, Seddon – BOUGHT $1,000,000
We were engaged by an investor to find a long term investment that would achieve good capital growth and rent out easily with high quality professional tenants. Being an interstate buyer, it was also important that this property was low maintenance and in very good condition to allow a ‘headache’ free investment.
We targeted 66 Gamon St, Seddon which is a fully renovated two bedroom, one bathroom period home in the very popular and trendy suburb of Seddon. The buyer and rental demand for this type of property is very strong, and hence the reason why we targeted it for our investor client.
The Elite team inspected the property at the first open for inspection where we were adamantly told that the property had to go to auction on the 4th of April. With the current environment changing daily, this enabled us to execute a strategy which allowed us to take advantage of the current market conditions.
We put forward an offer and over a period of 24 hours of negotiating, we were able to buy the property prior to auction for a price that we would never have been able to secure in a seller’s market.
Rental Property of the week
FOR LEASE
202/173 Barkly Street, St Kilda – $470
This fully furnished, one bedroom apartment in central St Kilda is an amazing offering for a low maintenance lifestyle. Located on the first floor this bright, open plan one bedroom apartment offers super smart contemporary spaces in a brilliant inner city position. Its superbly spacious dimensions boast an uninterrupted easterly focus ensuring sun filled mornings and bright blue sky afternoons. A peaceful, private bedroom with built in robes is accompanied by generous open plan living/dining areas that feature a stainless steel kitchen ideal for entertaining. An immaculate bathroom, European laundry, reverse cycle heating/cooling, intercom security and basement parking sweeten the deal just moments from the CBD, Chapel and Carlisle Streets, Windsor Station and St Kilda beach.
Please call the office on 03 9592 1122 if you are interested to view.
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