Take A Break, And Don't Rush To Get Back, Figures Suggest
The Age
Monday May 24, 2004
The market keeps getting gloomier for the agents, with low stock levels, wary buyers and thinning crowds. In what is a quiet time of year, many agents are preparing for their winter getaway and hoping things will have improved by the time they get back.
But they might need to take a long holiday: figures from Australian Property Monitors show auction numbers at less than half last year's level, with the value of properties sold at the weekend just 27 per cent of last year's figure.
This weekend last year, properties worth $263.76 million changed hands compared, with $72.83 million this weekend. Even if, as agents suggest, fewer properties are going to auction and more are going directly to private sale, the market is still extraordinarily slow.
Greg Hocking, of Hocking Stuart, reported that his firm sold 37 of the 65 properties auctioned, a clearance rate of 56 per cent. The highlight was a double-storey Victorian home at 31 Nicholson Street, Essendon, which sold before auction for $1.2 million.
Mr Hocking said that sale showed both the strength at the top end, and the willingness of vendors to accept prior offers.
He said there was still strong demand from buyers for quality properties, but now that the heat had gone from the market vendors were reluctant to chance their arm.
``In any market that is volatile and moving quickly, whether it's property or the stockmarket or gold, everyone's in and having a go, but that's not the situation now, although all the agents are saying `where are the properties?"' he said. ``They have buyers but not enough stock."
Mr Hocking said while clearance rates at auction were low, almost 85 per cent of properties were sold within a week, and demand was only likely to get stronger as stock levels fell further over winter.
Despite the dismal outlook, Mr Hocking said this slowdown was nothing like the property collapse of the early 1990s. ``Employment is strong; interest rates are still low," he said. ``Last time around everything was in tatters."
Hocking Stuart's Caulfield agent, Robert German, reported three auctions yesterday in Caulfield South, with one sold under the hammer and two passed in. A small brick house at 30 Grey Street sold for $460,000, while 24 Filbert Street and 507 Hawthorn Road were passed in.
Noel Jones Real Estate auctioned 13 properties at the weekend, selling 55 per cent of them. Adrian Jones said the remainder were likely to sell within 10 days.
The highlight was the auction of a large, unrenovated weatherboard home at 42 Bowen Street, Camberwell, which sold for $860,000. The property had not been sold for more than 60 years and needed total renovation, Mr Jones said.
He said the market was returning to a more stable base. ``People die, people have to get divorced and people move because of transfers, or family moving out, so some people have to sell," he said.
LISTINGS
Weekend 391
Yesterday 24
Last Sunday 36
This weekend last month 499
This weekend last year 826
CLEARANCE RATES
Weekend 50 per cent
Yesterday 57 per cent
Last Sunday 33 per cent
This weekend last month 47 per cent
This weekend last year 71 per cent
TOP 10 RESULTS
1. House, 65 Sackville Street, Kew $1.61m
2. House, 101 Drummond Street, Carlton $1.53m
3. House, 31 Nicholson Street, Essendon $1.2m
4. House, 69 Manningtree Road, Hawthorn $1.02m
5. House, 3 Annetta Avenue, Ashburton $900,000
6. House, 42 Bowen Street, Camberwell $860,000
7. House, 67 Mountain View Road, Balwyn North $848,000
7. House, 70 Chatsworth Road, Prahran $848,000
9. House, 125 Heath Street, Port Melbourne $835,000
10. Townhouse, 10a Clarke Street, Prahran $811,000
TOP 10 BARGAINS
1. Studio, G03/68 Hayward Lane, Melbourne $122,000
2. Studio, 6/35 Charles Street, St Kilda $137,500
3.House, 9 Hakea Street, Doveton $146,500
4. Unit, 503/318 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne $177,000
5. Unit, 11/38 Burnley Street, Richmond $189,000
6. House, 7 Mahoneys Road, Reservoir$210,000
7. House, 98 Victoria Street, Footscray $215,500
8. Unit, 1/11 Firth Street, Doncaster $220,000
9. Unit, 9/20 Orange Grove, St Kilda East $220,000
10. House, 4 Daley Street, Glenroy $225,000
RESULTS ACCORDING TO PRICE RANGE RANGE OFFERED SOLD CLEARANCE 0 - $100,000 0 0 0 $101,000 - $150,000 4 4 100 $151,000 - $200,000 5 2 40 $201,000 - $300,000 49 38 78 $301,000 - $400,000 38 31 82 $401,000 - $500,000 37 33 89 $501,000 - $1,000,000 53 47 89 $1,000,000 plus 5 4 80 Price Undisclosed 35 35 100
© 2004 The Age