Bidders were a bit cold, a bit wet and not in the buying mood at 15 Kirkwood Sandringham. Passed In. One bidder. (Nick Johnstone, JP Dixon)

A bit of gloom maybe an understatement.  We covered 10 properties auctioned in Bayside today over $1,000,000 and saw a clearance rate of  zer0!  That’s right, nothing was bought under the hammer today.   6 bidders in total, and Park Road, Sandringham had two of them.   That’s Bidderman at 0.6. 

Properties to pass in today on vendor bids  included 3 Wellington , Brighton at $4,000,000, 5 Avondale, Hampton at $1,650,000, 66 Littlewood, Hampton at $1,220,000, 42 Holyrood, Hampton at $1,820,000, 15 Kirkwood, Sandringham at $2,400,000. (See live video of this auction on the  Market News home page).

Some of the bought properties include 28 Keats Street, Sandringham which Jenny Dwyer and auctioneer, Stephen Tickell, at Hocking Stuart bought post auction for  $100,000 above the pass-in price, for $1,650,000.   326 Beach Road, Black Rock (Mark Earle, Buxtons) was bought today for $2,450,000 and 5 Rippon Grove, Brighton which Justin Follett of Kay & Burton sold mid-week  around $3,500,000 after initially passing in at auction.

Speaking with Gail Pullen of Kay & Burton today, she thought the number of buyers around for this time of year was exceptional, but so were the number of properties currently for sale – perhaps evenly matched, and although properties may not be selling at auction, transactions were still happening.  This supports our view that alternative methods of sale in the $2,000,000 plus market will continue to increase over the next few months.

Leigh Hallamore of Buxtons still believes that the auction system brings price to a head and that vendors should consider the price at the time of auction as it may not be present when they come to the realisation that they should have taken it on the day.  He added that vendors need to recalibrate on price to comfortable levels and that some current prices are in no-man’s land whilst the market is in transition.

Clearance Rates Bayside – 35 monitored – 14 bought – 40% (last week 46%)

Expressions of Interest
Kay and Burton are the masters of this form of selling and with the current market and clearance rates it is as expected coming back into vogue. Four interesting homes that Mal has been through recently and rated highly are

• 9 Martin St Brighton (Gail Pullen and Ian Jackson) north facing golden mile land with an art deco maybe.
• 3/9 Glyndon Brighton (Alex Schiavo and Stewart Lopez) – golden mile apartment in the traditional style
• 2a Seacombe Grove (Sturt Hinton) – left field golden mile townhouse  worth a look
• 31 Martin St Brighton (Sturt Hinton and Stewart Lopez) – really good home in that Elwoody North Brighton, Beachy precinct.

Miriam Carraro of Hodges and one of Brighton’s quiet achievers says this about EOI’s. There is an increase in EOI as it suits vendors who would like to sell privately but wish to have an end date to the process (which auctions give you): the vendors selling through EOI can get the best of both worlds using this method. 

If as a buyer, you would like to know more about how to work your way through the EOI method of sale, please give us a ring.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Indoor Auctions were the order of the day. Stephen Tickell and Jenny Dwyer pass in and sell after for $1,650,000. 1 bidder.

Brighton 7 Maysbury: Passed In for $3,200,000. 1 bidder. A quiet crowd of 50.

Of the 9 properties we covered in Bayside today, 6 passed in.  Ten bidders for the 9 properties, although  Leigh Hallimore of Buxtons did have three of the ten bidders at 41 Lynch Crescent, Brighton.  Bidderman was at 1.1 for Bayside.

7 Grosvenor Street, Brighton (Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon), 960sqm and north facing rear, near the shops and beach passed in with one bidder for $3,310,000 and remains unsold.  22 Margarita Street, a premier Hampton street and good family home, passed in with no bids at $2,250,000.  7 Maysbury Brighton (Leigh Hallamore of Buxton) passed in with one bid for $3,200,000.  91 Dendy Brighton (Greg Costello RT Edgar) passed in with no bids at $2,350,000.

18 Sussex, auctioned by Stewart Lopez at Kay & Burton, 920 sqm in Brighton’s Diamond K, passed in for $3,110,000.  It did sell after for a price closer to $3,200,000.  If you put no value in the house, that’s around $3,450 sqm.  Very different to  40 Sussex which sold in February at $4,500 sqm.  Justin Follett also of Kay & Burton successfully sold 49 Hanby Street, Brighton during the week after passing in last weekend just over $2,000,000.  Bill Jowett of Buxtons, negotiated  26 Ebden Avenue, Black Rock  after auction for $2,500,000.  On 1,239 sqm, that’s still $2,000 sqm for this predominantly land only property.  37 Normanby, Brighton, with Peter Kennett of Hocking Stuart, also sold after for around $2,800,000.

85 Were St (Robin Parker of RT Edgar) was bought for $1,310,000 or $3195 per sqm for a small land holding. Interesting!

Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon Real Estate advised he’d sold two off market properties in Brighton during the week.  Park Street for $1,735,000 and Middle Crescent for $3,675,000.  He further advised that the Middle Crescent property had sold six months earlier for $3,100,000. Some properties are still continuing to attract strong prices.  He did say that he thought we would see more off market transactions over the next few months.

Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart feels buyer nervousness increases as you go further up the price pyramid. We concur.

James Paynter of Hodges  advised strength for properties around the $1,000,000ish price point with 15 Short Street, Hampton East selling strongly for $970,000  and 12A Vincent, Sandringham for $1,092,000.  In the same price bracket, 42 May Street, Hampton, with Mark Earle of Buxtons, sold before auction in the low $1′s.  However, 12 Codrington Street, Sandringham passed in on a vendor bid of $1,200,000.

Bayside Auction Results - 26 monitored – 12 bought – 46% clearance rate

Happy Wife, Happy Life

Brighton 7 Grosvenor St: Passed In $3,310,000. Quiet vibe from the crowd of 70. 1 bidder

One of the nice guys; nonetheless a man on a mission. Mission Accomplished for Bill Jowett of Buxton. Black Rock 63 First: Bought After $1,610,000: 1 bidder

Eight bought at auction and 12 passed in (10 on a vendor bid) – that’s a James $Million+ clearance rate of 40%. Having said that, 7 $M+ homes were sold mid-week in Bayside so the market isn’t in hibernation.

As more $3M+ auctions fail and vendors ask the question `why spend $30,000 on a failed auction marketing campaign ?’, you will begin to see more and more Expressions of Interest. Expressions of Interest and Off Market sales are increasing with JP Dixon and Kay and Burton. Two more $4M+ auctions that failed to fire today are 19 Wellington and 23 St Ninians.

Buyer behaviour  appears to have changed in the past month.  This may be due to increased stock levels providing more choice for buyers and/or buyer’s becoming more discerning.  However, according to our research, there have still been 57 sales over $1,000,000 in Bayside this month.  That’s over 2.5 sales per day!

Some interesting issues:

1. The bought afters on the day are now a big part of current Bayside auction life. Auctioneer, Bill Jowett of Buxtons has since sold 63 First Street, Black Rock  for $1,610,000,  Mark Earle of Buxtons sold 148 Thomas Street, Hampton after auction for $1,570,000, 11 Passchendaele, Hampton with Julian Augustini of Hodges sold after for $1,290,000,  Errol Driver of Hodges sold 7 Hilton Street, Beaumaris after for  $1,385,000.  Julian Augustini of Hodges auctioned 6 Higinbotham Street, Brighton.  A genuine bid of $1,650,0oo (not accepted)  was followed by another  vendor bid and passed in.  The property has since sold for $1,800,000.
2. Not all sold afters have big jumps in price.
   7 Hilton Beaumaris – $5,000
   63 First St Black Rock – $100,000
   148 Thomes St Hampton – $34,500
   11 Passchendaele Hampton – $90,000
3. No auctions over 2 bidders today and Bidderman was a lowly 1.2.
4. 125 Male St Brighton resold yesterday with 2 strong bidders (Lambros Bollas of Buxton) for 1,275,000. Last sold in August 2007 for $1,005,000 so that’s only about a 6% return pa after stamps. Better than many shares – but ….

If you don’t know how to play the Expressions of Interest game then you may well learn at your peril.  Perhaps give us a ring for some insights.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Another Pass In with a really good crowd (100): 19 Wellington Brighton: Kay and Burton Pass In $4,210,000: 1 bidder

Black Rock 19 Stanley Bought $1,600,000. Despite a quiet auction, Mr Smooth aka Wes Belt relieved the one bidder of a solid amount in post auction negotiations. Strong, very strong.

Strength was seen in quality properties today, however, there were still a few surprise pass-ins.  Well-positioned land with homes of minimal value (some could argue no value) led the way.  4 Arkaringa, Black Rock, was auctioned by Campbell Cooney of Hodges and sold for almost $2,350 sqm (if there is no value in the house).  22 Surf Avenue, Beaumaris in another great location was auctioned by Mark Earle of Buxtons for around $2,050 sqm (again with a liveable house requiring major work/replacement). Another land property (920sqm) at 2 Fairleigh Avenue, Beaumaris, overlooking the R0yal Melbourne Golf Club, auctioned by Brian Hutchins of Brian Hutchins Real Estate  sold for $1,340,000.  However, 18 Arranmore, Black Rock (again land only) passed in at $1,150,000.  Another surprise today, given that 40 Sussex Street, Brighton sold strongly a few weeks ago for just over $4,500 sqm,  was  1 Webb Street (a stone’s throw away from Sussex) which passed in for $2,550,000. Difficult home but stellar location so Buxton’s Mr Hart should move it on some time sooner rather than later.

When speaking with Stephen Tickell of Hocking Stuart he advised “Despite buyers appearing to become a little more cautious with their  bidding at auctions over the past couple of weeks there still appears to be a strong underlying confidence , particularly at the ‘top end’,  in our sector of the bayside.”   6a Seaview Crescent, Black Rock   and 71 Royal Avenue, Sandringham both sold after auction today, both over $ 2 million dollars, maintaining Hocking Stuart’s clearance levels above 85% across the board.  He further advised  “The market remains strong, but the heady ‘free for all’ days of auctions with unrestrained bidding may be returning to a more sensible and sustainable level.”  Another sale today over $2,000,000 was with Jason Gill of Hodges, who ran a successful campaign at 52 Asling Street, Brighton.  The property also passing in at $2,110,000 and sold post auction close to $2,200,000.

Across Bayside agents still feel stock levels are down, however, results like Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon, selling 4 properties in Hampton in the last month totaling $16M may encourage others in the area to think about listing their properties.  Normally these are the sorts of properties we buy in Brighton,  but the strength of the recent market may be beginning to include Hampton on a more regular basis.

The median price trend chart, courtesy of the REIV, is a very useful tool to confirm thoughts over the longer term. This chart below clearly shows Brighton’s price decline in 2008 and price recovery in 2009 – as it does but not quite as dramatically for most of Bayside. Remember these REIV charts are for all homes not just our focus of $M+.

Happy Wife, Happy Life

McKinnon 40 Wheatley Road Nick Renna Passed In. Huge crowd of 200 saw 3 bidders fight strongly for the right to go toe to toe with Mr Renna post auction. We await the final outcome.

Unless you have been in a cave you would know that property prices in Glen Eira have been increasing for some time now. However in the past two weeks, after the Easter break,  million dollar prices have been common as common as Bagels in Glenhuntly Road; as common as Gary Peer signs on Bambra Road and as common as Collingwood premierships (woops that’s wrong); anyway (25 in total) in Elsternwick (5);  Caulfield (12), McKinnon (3) , Bentleigh (1), Ormond (2) and Murrumbeena(2). That is very strong and unlike early 2009 or all of 2008.

Caulfield North $2m+ private sales: 3 in fact at 5 Rowena (Rodney Morley TBM), 8 Craddock (Gary Peer) and 8 Fosbery (also Gary Peer) averaging out a tad over $2.5million. These were all new homes and shows that in Caulfield if you build it in 2009 they will buy it in 2010.

The market didn’t show a similar strength today on the 6 homes we chose today. Three had issues and they all passed in – the other three were bought. However there were bidders atall bar one auction.

Some land sales for values:

66 Shoobra Elsternwick with Bill Stavrakis of  Biggin and Scott. 668 sqm for $1,300,000 or just under $2,000 per sq metre. Seriously across Melbourne this far out from the CBD in that caliber of precinct it sounds cheap. The sale  is good – that is land value in the are – we are saying the precinct for what is offer is cheap. Glenhuntly road shops, synagogues and churches, rail and tram (sounding like a selling agent, but its true). It’s almost a hidden treasure except everybody knows – sort of.

20 Marriott St Caulfield with Mark Rogers of Buxtons. Nice north facing rear block of 73o sqmetres sold for around $1800 psqm. It’s a little bit away from the action but after a good home goes on it you are looking well north of $2,000,000 which supports those 3 new home sales mentioned above

So far this year we have seen regular crowds of up to 70 to 100 people; far bigger than in Stonnington and Bayside. Why I’m not sure – there maybe even greater buyer depth here than we first thought and many are not getting the chance to put their hand up on the goodies.

The median price trend chart below, courtesy of the REIV, shows as we are finding, a solid recovery in prices began around the middle of last year and has continued on into this year. We think these charts accurately reflect what is happening in the Glen Eira $M+ market.

All this is showing the potential of buying in Glen Eira for those that can’t afford Malvern or Brighton and for those who simply want to live here for the family life and period homes on offer.

If you haven’t noticed Glen Eira before then just take a drive around the suburbs and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Stay Focused, Stay Happy

Hampton: 30 Avondale Street: Bought under the hammer for $2,800,000. 3 bidders. Crowd over 200. Mark Earle of Buxton in charge of the hustle and bustle.

Bidderman was 2.5 of the 6 properties we covered in Bayside  (and 3 across Melbourne for all the properties we covered over $1,000,000.)  Clearance rates were high amongst most Bayside agents.  Justin Follett of Kay & Burton advised 100% clearance rate today, whilst Mark Earle of Buxtons Sandringham advised they sold 6 of 8 and Julian Augustini of Hodges advised 86% across Bayside, with the standouts in the lower price brackets, with multiple bidders.

Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart, teamed with her usual partner, Stephen Tickell, to sell 2 Victoria Street, Sandringham today for $1,552,000.  The 7 bidders were divided between bulldozing and renovating as this property held interest for both.  On 727 sqm with a south facing rear, land was $2,134 sqm.

243 Beach Road, Black Rock, auctioned by Julian Augustini of Hodges, sold for $2,230,000 with 3 bidders.  Another knockdown, on 1022 sqm with access from Bayview Crescent.  This calculated land at $2,189 sqm.

Another strong result for 56 St Andrews Street, Brighton, after 60 St Andrews Street sold this month for $2,900,000.  Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon Real Estate auctioned the property, in front of about 90, he had 2 bidders and sold it for $2,610,000. He also got sold the biggest sale I can remember in Hampton for some time, said to be between $4,400,000 and $4,600,000 at 31 Gordon Grove Hampton.

The two that didn’t make it and were passed in – 27 Cowper Street, Brighton, rating 736, a double fronted period home on 576 sqm and north facing rear, failed to attract a bid. The other pass in was 21 Balcombe Park Lane, Beaumaris on  696 sqm rating 677.  Both these properties needed major renovations to bring up to current home expectations.

The property of interest today, with around 200 onlookers, was 30 Avondale, Hampton.  A new, period style, family home on 700 sqm, auctioned by Mark Earle of Buxtons sold for $2,800,000.   Mark advised afterwards that good quality stock is still especially popular with buyers.

Things are expected to be a little quieter over the Easter/school holiday period.  Both Jenny Dwyer and Mark Earle say Bayside is currently not inundated with properties for sale.  Though Justin Follett claims there are some good quality land sites coming on after Easter.  1st of May is shaping up to be the next big weekend in real estate.

Happy Wife, Happy Life

Brighton 42a Black St - Sold After Undisclosed - Bidderman 2. David Hart working hard to get some action, eventually passing it in at $2,100,000 and selling it afterwards

Auctions were quieter today in terms of bidder numbers. Of the four properties we attended in Brighton/Brighton East, all passed in.   Of the 5 auctions in Bayside that we covered, there were only 9 bidders; with only one selling under the hammer.   Does this mean that vendors have become excited by the hype surrounding the market and raised their expectations higher or does it mean buyers maybe slowing a little? Please note only one remains unsold at time of writing so four have sold between hammer time and 6.00pm

Thirteen  days into March and figures show at least 24 sales over $1,000,000 in Bayside – that’s nearly two per day! Year to date 98 sales reported over a million compared with 55 year to date this time last year In Bayside.  There were 16 in Brighton alone and all methods seem to be selling. 

Two big ones for Kay & Burton were 60 St Andrews Street, managed by Justin Follett of Kay and Burton, selling privately for $2,900,000 and 23 Drake Street, with Sturt Hinton running an expressions of interest campaign, successfully achieving more than $2,800,000 for the new townhouse.

Jonathon Dixon of JP Dixon auctioned 2 Connor Street, Brighton East. A good family home on 660 sqm but still managed to pass in with 3 bidders at $2,170,000 (the agent negotiating afterward and successfully obtaining at least another $100,000 from the purchaser).

Jason Gill of Hodges Real Estate auctioned 13 Churchill Court, Brighton East, on 728 sqm, which passed in with no bids at $1,850,000. He advised things are strong and he’s confident he has more than enough buyers out there at the moment to negotiate sales for most properties.

Mark Earle of Buxtons had a good sale with 42 Abbott Street, Sandringham auctioning today for $1,420,000.  A solid result for this renovated Edwardian on 493 sqm of south facing rear land on a busy road.

With most properties selling via all methods at the moment, now, more than ever, it is important to think about how you are going to buy your property.  For example, if it is a private sale, what price should your offer be?  What should you do if it isn’t accepted?  In an expression of interest campaign – how do you know if you have any other legitimate competition?  Is it a one off best offer price?  How should you work out your price?  With many properties passing in at auction, but still selling - if you are successful in obtaining the right to negotiate how will proceed from that point?

With over 50 auctions ($million+) scheduled in the next fortnight as buyers you might want to keep your eyes open.

Happy Wife Happy Life

John Clarkson of Hocking Stuart on his way to producing a stellar result (for the seller) at 38 Montclair Avenue Brighton North

To quote Rodney Morley of TBM real estate  at the auction of 23 Loch Street today, “That’s 8 of you!”  – and the bidders weren’t just there.  They were everywhere!  Loch Street, in St Kilda West, was buzzing with a crowd of more than 150 and bids came from everywhere.

Stuart Lopez of Kay & Burton achieved a fantastic result at 40 Sussex Street, Brighton.  Considered land only (725 sqm) by many, it sold for $3.25M.  That’s  a little over $4,500 per sqm.  Further down south, Hocking Stuart’s pair Stephen Tickell and Jenny Dwyer sold 5 Jennings Street, Sandringham for $1.85M.  With a feeling of yesteryear, this property needed a lot of work, and was rated as such.  If you put no value in the house (although many would keep it),  at 749 square metres, that’s almost $2,500 per sqm.

Family homes sold well today: John Clarkson of Hocking Stuart, sold 38 Montclair, Brighton for $2,225,000 with 3 bidders.  A property in Alicia Street, Hampton that did not move at all last year has sold via an expression of interest campaign, and we believe it sold this week for a little over $4M.  Leigh Hallamore and Bert Stewart of Buxtons ran a good campaign at 2a Rippon Grove, Brighton, selling under the hammer in the early $3M’s.

And it wasn’t just family homes selling today with multiple bidders -  the Leigh and Bert duo continued on to successfully sell 170 Were Street, Brighton, a small townhouse, for $1.283M with 5 bidders; up from just under a million when it last sold about 18 months ago.

The question now is whether this is a sign of things to come.  Will bidders remain at these numbers?  Will an increase in properties affect the current heat in the market?

Happy Wife Happy Life