Clearance rate hovers below 60%

AGENTS and buyer advocates are reporting more inquiries and increasing attendance at Melbourne’s auctions but the clearance rate remains just below 60 per cent. There were 443 auctions reported to the REIV at the weekend, with a 59 per cent clearance rate. Of the 180 properties passed in, 116 were on a vendor bid. Click […]

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Winter doldrums

A 59-PER-CENT CLEARANCE RATE SHOWS BUYERS ARE STILL NOT CONFIDENT OF THE MARKET. Far from being encouraged by comments from Westpac Bank this week that interest rates could fall, many prospective buyers kept their hands in their pockets yesterday, continuing to show their preparedness to walk away from auctions. Just 59 per cent of the […]

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Top 10 selling tips from the insiders

WHAT are the best ways to give your home the edge in a buyers’ market? SELLING your home is the ultimate talent quest. Even if your home has limited “talent”, it is possible to beat competitors to a sale with excellent presentation, an original performance and a clearly communicated act. This year’s flood of homes […]

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Time to take stock

AS FEWER PROPERTIES ARE PUT UP FOR AUCTION, MORE ARE BEING SOLD PRIVATELY. Melbourne’s auction market has entered its traditional winter slowdown, but it looks likely that the change in conditions won’t bring much relief to increasingly beleaguered home owners. The number of properties being put up for auction has finally fallen below last year’s […]

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The Block spreads to South Melbourne

THE producers of Channel 9’s hit renovation show, The Block, have paid more than $3 million for a row of terrace houses for a second series to be filmed in Melbourne this year. Watercress Productions paid $3.025 million for the four double-storey Victorian terraces standing side by side on Dorcas St, South Melbourne, late last […]

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Deals done after sale

VICTORIA’s auction clearance rate came in at 56 per cent yesterday with about 480 properties going under the hammer. Real Estate Institute of Victoria spokesman Robert Larocca says buyers are waiting for properties to be passed in rather than show their hand. ‘‘Buyers have clearly worked out that they are advantaged by waiting and trying […]

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Melbourne market wanes after boom

HAS Melbourne hit the property brakes? That’s the big question facing home owners after last week’s May figures from RP Data. Six months into 2011 and the worries for buyers and sellers could hardly be more different from a year ago. Back then, sellers had it relatively easy. While the boom experienced earlier in 2010 […]

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Uncertainty for auction action

WITH Melbourne property prices continuing to fall in the past few months, vendors are experiencing a challenging 2011 market characterised by uncertainty. RP Data-Risrnark reports that dwelling values across the city have dropped 3.6 per cent since the start of the year. Combined with a clearance rate that has been below 60 per cent since […]

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The wise buys

Looking to sink $350,000 into an investment property in Melbourne? It is still possible. The Sunday Herald Sun asked three buyer advocates where they would spend the money. More importantly, we asked them to tell us why it is a good investment in a softening market. Catherine Cashmore JPP Buyer Advocates Suburbs: Thornbury and Brunswick. […]

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Buyers still cautious

VICTORIA’S clearance rate was 57 per cent yesterday, with more than 660 properties up for auction. Data from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria shows Melbourne’s clearance rate has averaged 59 per cent this year. A healthy market averages 65-75 per cent. While the rate is trending down, the market is anything but uniform. Inner-eastern […]

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