'But I didn't think it would sell in the range' - buyers finding some relief!

Saturday 23rd April, a quiet weekend in real estate given the ANZAC Day long weekend, however, a weekend that gave a glimpse of what we may see in the coming months.

A property, sold at auction, in its quoted range. Yes, you read that correctly and I hope you're sitting down because even I can't beleive the words I am typing.

It was what most would call a renovator's delight, located in the suburb of Cheltenham on 702m2 of land. Top end of the quote was $1,380,000 and it sold for $1,368,000. Now I understand there isn't a drastic difference between the sold price and the top end of the quote ($12,000 to be exact), however, the idea that a property would be knocked down at auction WITHIN a quoted range is not something Victorians are used to seeing.

It did come as a suprise to me, given earlier in the day I attended another auction, in the same suburbs, that sold for $415,000 OVER the quoted range. It too was a renovator's delight but on a larger parcel of land, ripe for development of multiple dwellings.

So what does it mean when a property sells in the quoted range?

Realistic vendors? Lack of buyers? An agent quoting fairly? A changing market?

To be honest, all of the above were applicable in the what I witnessed on Saturday and I think it may provide a glimpse of hope for buyers who have been conditioned to add 10%+ on the top end of a quote range.

Does this mean the market is dropping? In my opinon - no.

It is what we call, cooling. Not cold, just cooling. And it's important to note it's cooling from what has been a red hot fire of a buying frenzy.

Think of it like this - if you had a cup of tea sitting at 100 degrees and you added an adequate dash of milk at say, 5 degrees, you'll find the cup of tea is still hot, but not boiling. The market is still warm, it's just not crazy hot.

The phrase I think buyers may be saying more and more (if they don't catch on quick enough) is 'I didn't think it would sell in the range'. This is most likely to come from those buyers who have had their hopes and dreams crushed throughout the rises in 2021 and now feeling defeated being well and truly into 2022.

If this is you, you need to change your mindset. There is hope.

Of course, there are still sales occuring that are well beyond the quoted range and in fact, I beleive there always will be.

But the mindset shift needs to come into play for those who have a budget of say $1.2M and see a property quoted $1.1M - $1.18M and immediately disregard it as an option because 'there is no way we have a chance'.

Whilst I can not guarantee you would secure a home with that quote ($1.1M - $1.18M) for $1.2M (factors to consider such as location, other interested parties, is the quote reasonable? do the vendors understand the market? is the agent working to a realistic reserve?), I would certainly encourage you to reconsider visiting options that you've previously disregarded.

Hopeful some welcomed news for some readers! Would love to hear your thoughts below or if you've seen a property sell within the quoted range, please share.