Balwyn North 12 Ajana: 'Mmmm - it is quiet today.' Toby Parker. Passed In $1,600,000, No bidders

Not much happening today, with one of the quietest non-holiday Boroondara auction weeks I can remember. There were 11 auctions and seven sold. In May we were running at four times this almost every week. Very few private sales either.

Bidderman was irrelevant on such small numbers. The highlights were:

3 Longstaff Kew East – Glen Coutinho of Hocking Stuart which had a crowd of 80 and 5 bidders and was bought for $1,413,000. This one was all about the renovation and not the position. It really was a matter of home over location. See our report and click onto our ratings below.

39 Denham Street Hawthorn – Peter Mitchell of Marshall White was perhaps a symptom of lack of stock. It had rock solid potential but there were effectively only 4 bids from 3 bidders: $1.7m – $1.8m – $1.9m – on market – $2.0m – Gone. See our report in Market News and below.

Selling Agent Thoughts

Peter Mitchell of Marshall White

• May 2010 was a vendor-driven stock glut scared off by the GFC in the past and the upcoming election
• Not much stock around
• Prices are flat
• Normal spring

Doug McLauchlan of Marshall White

• Stock is drying up fast
• Prices have plateaued
• Normal spring

Scott Patterson of Jellis Craig

• Listing well for September – should be a solid spring
• Didn’t see a lot of strength in the market today, but the offerings were varied.
• One good result in Eglinton St Kew, yet quiet at Alta Street Canterbury
• Busy at opens – most had 20+ groups

Tim Fletcher of Fletchers

• Should be more on offer in spring this year, compared to other years.
• We are seeing a healthier market now  – it has softened. Buyers are still paying top dollar for good property – even record prices, yet for properties with issues buyers are becoming more and more discerning.
• I was really concerned when the Melbourne property clearance rate for property was in the early to mid 80% range for a number of weeks on end. This was not a normal market – it was overheated. If it had continued this would have put increased pressure on interest rates – which would not have been good for the economy as a whole.

Monitored Auctions

We are looking at 20  auctions next week, so auction numbers are increasing.

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