It was hit and miss this weekend. With the cold and rain putting a dampener on people’s spirit (and wallets) the clearance rates were again at a low of 53%. Across the board this week there were sales and properties passed-in in the under $500,000 home buyer range, sales in the $500,000 – $1m upsizing range and million dollar plus range. We do however note that for the third week in a row there was an increase in total sales.
Not unusually we opened the paper this morning to numerous pass ins in Brighton, Albert Park, Kew and Glen Iris among many other top end areas. What was slightly different this week was the pass ins in Elwood, Brunswick, Preston and Moonee Ponds, again among others. The latter suburbs are areas prominent with units and apartments and medians around the $500,000 – $700,000 range, which were yet to be hit too hard.
Saying this however it shows that we are still in a buyers market. Unlike this time last year when you would go to auction and stand there with your hand up until you had beaten other potential purchasers off or ran out of money, we are now seeing a lot more negotiation after the auction. Coming up to Christmas, even more properties will be negotiated at prices that will be dependent on financial circumstances of the buyer and seller rather than on what the property is necessarily worth.
If you are thinking about buying either now or post Christmas why not come in for a no obligation chat about what we think the market is doing and how we may be able to assist you.
Courtney James
