Market Growth Shifts into Another Gear
Market Growth Shifts into Another Gear
Across the last two weekends, we have witnessed buyers not afraid to assert themselves in displaying strong and fast-paced bidding, ensuring many of our scheduled auctions have sold under the hammer. The atmosphere and results of these auctions have been reminiscent, if not better than, the peak of the market in 2017 with large crowd attendance well and truly back and vendors elated with the success of a sale, in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars above their reserve prices. In fact, this most recent Saturday, the Barry Plant Eastern Group sold all of their scheduled auctions providing a 100% clearance rate for our vendors.
Whether scheduled for auction, Sale by Set Date? or advertised for private sale, the demand for properties has never been greater and due to the continued shortage of homes on the market, it seems that each week brings even more competition, shifting the market into an even higher gear than before.
With just one weekend left before Easter and over 950 properties scheduled for auction across Victoria this weekend, we anticipate to see the usual rush from buyers to secure their new home. However, with the current buyer activity this is expected to be further intensified and I predict, with all the current signs, we won't see too much of a slowing in the market until the end of the financial year. Unfortunately no one has a crystal ball, certainly not myself and only time will tell how much stamina this current market has.
In many instances I am seeing buyers, whether they be first home buyers, investors or families, armed with more knowledge and having prepared themselves better to put forward a firm offer. In my opinion this is being caused by the transparency of the market, along with, as I have mentioned previously, a heightened level of 'FOMO' (fear of missing out).
As a home owner, have you wondered if you could achieve your dream price or would it be out of the equation? Definitely not! With unusually high buyer activity, we're seeing homes achieve new street records and some even setting suburb records! If you're even just a little curious about what the value of your home is in the current market, I implore you to reach out to obtain an updated market appraisal to ensure you are better informed.
My advice for those looking to buy is to be bold, what you pay now will be irrelevant in 6 or 12 months time. Don't be disheartened if you feel you are missing out to others, I can assure you that post Easter we do have a number of properties that will be hitting the market. If you would like to be notified before these or any other properties go live, please reach out to me so I can further understand your preferences and criteria to be able to keep you in the loop.
THE WEEK THAT WAS...
Throughout last week, with auction numbers almost tipping 1,000 the focus was on the clearance rate. 83% published by the REIV shows that the market is extremely buoyant! Not too mention, the number of private sales also being transacted for homes on and off market.
Family homes are definitely the most sought after closely followed by entry-level homes/units for first home buyers and lifestyle/prestige homes also seeing a rise in demand.
Manningham 46 Sales for last week.
20/28 Auctions Sold - (71.4% Clearance Rate)
Whitehorse 59 Sales for last week.
47/53 Auctions Sold - (88.7% Clearance Rate)
Boroondara 83 Sales for last week.
61/75 Auctions Sold - (81.3% Clearance Rate)
THE TOP END MARKET
The focus of many media outlets and buyers is what's taking place in top end of the market. It's always a pleasure speaking with my former colleagues working within this market.
Significant and quality built homes are being extremely well received and inspected across our state. Throughout the month of march, 17 homes of $5m+ have transacted with many more 'Under Contract'.
Closer to home, where we would deem our upper end market being $3m+ is seeing significant demand with homes of between $3 - $5m being well inspected. Driving the buyers to make a decision swiftly are the location, proximity to schooling, the fall of the land and the quality of the design/renovation.
Within this market, over the past month, we have met in-excess of 250 purchasers that are seeking a new lifestyle home.
MARKET OBSERVATIONS
The market is HOT! there's no way to sugar-coat this any further. We truly don't have enough homes available to facilitate the demand of buyers.
? There is still minimal availability of homes on the market in comparison to buyer demand.
? When you combine this with cheap credit and government stimulus, there is little wonder the market is performing so well.
? Those who missed out on buying at auction are eager to purchase before their pre-approval expires. This is driving the private sale market along with 'off market' transactions.
SELLERS
? I would advise you consider contacting me to understand your options surrounding a potential move now or within the next few months.
? We are inundated with a vast number of qualified buyer enquiries for a varying range of property requirements and this may be your chance to take advantage of the hype that we're currently experiencing.
BUYERS
? It's best to be organised - Bank approvals are still a slow process - getting your pre-approval in place will give you a significant advantage over your competition in those homes marketed as private sales. Having obtained your pre-approval may very well be the difference between you bidding at an auction and your competition not being able to.
IN CLOSING
I hope that you have a terrific week ahead! If there's anything that my team and I can assist you with or help clarify please feel free to reach out at any time.