Has Beauty Left The Building Industry?
Tristan Larkin - Tomii Buyers Agents
Buyer’s Agent | Expert in securing off-market and pre-market properties in Melbourne and the surrounds of VIC
In This Week’s How's The Market | Edition 103
Has Beauty Left The Building Industry?
I gave a presentation in Melbourne's CBD last week in an office building on Collins Street.
As usual, I arrived ridiculously early and found some time to explore some of the old historic buildings of Melbourne.
I stumbled into 333 Collins Street, Melbourne which was initially built for CBA circa 1891 and pictured below:
The architecture is incredible and like nothing you would see in today's day and age.
Compare this to what you might find in a CBA branch today and it might look like something below.
It’s not like this just with the banking industry or even the commercial industry in general.
This bland, safe, plain style has become the cornerstone of today's residential building industry as well.
Below is an image of a new estate in Sydney's outer suburbs 40km from the CBD.
Compare this design and style to some period homes within Melbourne below.
The first is an expensive terrace home in East Melbourne which understandably, should not be the standard, however, does show a level of detail that we don’t see even in the brand new multimillion dollar homes of today.
The second is a smaller terrace home in Prahran which is on a smaller block with a significantly cheaper price point that still shows an older style beauty that we seem to have lost.
It doesn’t surprise me that many of the clients we speak to are looking for period properties in Melbourne. And that many of these older style homes, often built close to 100 years ago, sometimes have better quality than today's new builds.
Even some of the smaller details that may not be easily noticeable have become more plain and boring, like street lamps.
I think it’s important to keep beauty in the places we live and why older style period properties can make such great investments.
As we are in such severe under supply crisis in our building industry, it is highly unlikely the practise of building intricate beauty like what was seen in Collins street will return to Melbourne any time soon.
If you are looking for a period home, feel free to reach out so we can help you find your piece of history.
Top End Inner Melbourne Auction Results - 8th Mar
Auction Clearance Rate = 80%
As expected, it’s a much quieter week for the top end of Melbourne due to the long weekend.
Here we can see the few properties that did go to auction had pretty good results with an 80% clearance rate out of the small sub section of data.?
Next week will be more interesting with many more auctions scheduled.
Local Spot Light
In honour of the topic for this week, I’ve got to point out Reine & La Rue in Collins Street.
This is up there as one of my favourite restaurants I’ve been to in Melbourne and one I would recommend anyone to check out at least once.
It’s not cheap, but the food is incredible, the staff are great and the building is astounding.
Location: 380 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Parking: Non existent - I recommend ubering for this one.
We loved: The architecture makes this one of the most beautiful settings in Melbourne, though the food and wine are also exceptional here too.
What The Agents Are Saying
Location is king!
Whilst it is obvious that the market is heating up across the board, there are still some properties struggling to sell.
I’ve seen this in the hottest markets sub $700k as well as in the $1.1m - $1.4m band and in the $2m+ markets as well.
The one factor that multiple agents have told me this week that is holding their properties back is location, location, location.
Properties on main roads, but additionally, properties that are a little bit further away from amenities than others in the suburb can also struggle.
Even some amazing properties in premium locations like Hawthorn can struggle if there in pockets where no good food, restaurants or amenities are available in walking distance.
I saw an incredibly well built home with all the high tech features and finishes of a much more expensive house pass-in and then have little interest. This really surprised me because the quality of the build seemed to far exceed comparatively priced properties nearby. But the agent has said she has received one piece of feedback from all parties…
It was just too far away from everything else in the suburb.
And buyers weren’t interested.
The Wow Factor!
Period at the front, modern at the back.
This property is a great example of modern beauty mixed with period charm.
Price Guide: $5,000,000 - $5,400,000
In The Media?
This article recommends vendors to be quick and sell rapidly in order to capitalise on a hot market.
I don’t think this is good advice.
You would be much better off preparing your home properly without rushing or missing details to make sure that it presents in the best possible light.
This home had a great renovation done to it multiple years ago and looks to present very well.
There will be buyers out there in droves for the remainder of this year for good quality properties in great locations.
You can not predict what the market will do or what other properties will be listed when yours goes online, though you can make sure you present your property correctly.
Also, underquoting attracts more bidders…
Final Thoughts
Whilst there is less beauty and house-proud people creating new properties in the market, we are fortunate to live in Melbourne where there are still many beautiful period homes available.
If you would like to purchase a period home or renovate a period home, we can help.
If you or someone you know would like assistance to buy this year, book in a call and we can discuss if we can help.
Thanks for reading this far!
We value feedback and if you have any suggestions on what you would like covered in the future please email me at [email protected]
Happy Buying!
Note: This is general advice and does not take into consideration your objectives, situations or needs. Please consider if this advice is suitable for you and your circumstances and speak to a professional before making any financial decisions.
Finance Business Partner
1 周Great article, Tristan. Thanks for sharing!