Brighton 14 Edmanson: The miserable weather made for a challenging auction. Surrounded by an umbrella-laden crowd of 25, David Hart of Buxton forged ahead with determination. The auction commenced with a vendor bid of $950,000 and with no bidders on the day, the property was passed in by Mr Hart at this same figure.

Bayside this week had a clearance rate of 7 from the 11 monitored properties this week – or 63%. This was up on the 40% to 50% of the last few weeks in May, but it was on a smaller turnover.

Bidderman, our demand indicator, was 1.3 bidders per auction – which is still lowish if we are in an improving market.

Having said,  turnover is now getting back to levels each week where we can gauge meaningful levels.

For instance: the 4th week in May 2010 produced 23 reported private, post auction and auction sales in Bayside. This the 4^th week in July we are looking at 14 reported sales – or about 60% of the corresponding week in May. However, overall we are well done on month to date comparable sales; this is seasonally normal and expected.

Agent Comments:

Stephen Tickell of Hocking Stuart: Prices only drop when vendors say so – i.e. when they accept the reduced prices – and that was happening in May. The market made the adjustment and now we are back to, well Mal where we always are every week, supply and demand. Supply is the main guider of the market of the market at present and there is not a lot for buyers in the $1million range in Sandringham and Hampton.

Julian Augustini of Hodges: There are two markets at the moment in Bayside. Median Bayside around $1 million going well. Double Median such as $3.5 million in Brighton and say $2.5 million in Hampton is struggling a little due to minimal demand for what is on offer and there is a reasonable depth of offering. Price is the key here.

Sturt Hinton of Kay and Burton: Good clearing of stock level. It’s been a good two months with quiet sales both private and off market ranging between $2 million and $6.5 million. We are seeing quieter stock numbers coming on now.

Of the 14 reported $M+ sales for the week the highlight was:

23 Murphy St Brighton – James Home Rating 767 out of 1000
James Home Rating: Great street and this property is appealing from the outside. Excellent land content here and a west facing rear is great for afternoon light. Some may have question marks about the floor plan – while the main bedroom suite is very good the separation to other bedrooms is not ideal and the kitchen and stair placement could be better. The cellar is one of the best I have seen and another big plus is a self contained unit at the rear. A good all round family home.

James Auction Report: In cold, drizzly conditions Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon worked hard to bring the bidders out from under their umbrellas. The result was rapid-fire bidding, culminating in a sale price of $3,350,000 in less than 15 minutes. 2 bidders.

James Post Auction Analysis: Strong but not completely unexpected result.

All other reported sales were in the $1m to $2m range.

Land sales

17 Hornby Beaumaris (towards the Black Rock area) with Peter Hickey of Buxton was at $1450 per sq metre for a larger block of land over 900 sq metres.

27 Plantation Ave Brighton East – certainly in Brighton East’s top five streets, again with Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon. 640 sq metres of land achieved $1,326,000 (see our auction report) or just over $2000 per sq metre.

And finishing off with a couple of smart little single level townhouses for the downsizers:

16 Lynch St Brighton (Sabrina Merrick of Hodges) $1,370,000 at auction (see report) for 452 sqm of land or just over $3000 per square metre

The little gem of the week was 16 Collins St Brighton (Chris Carrington of Buxton) – a single level townhouse in need of a reno in central Brighton. It surprisingly sold beforehand for $1,450,000. That was a rare opportunity and well done to whoever bought it.

This coming week we are monitoring 19 auctions.

We only buy homes

23 Murphy St Brighton: Solid result though Nick Johnstone of $3,350,000. See report above. 2 bidders

What is it with redheads? They're running the country - and now they're taking over the auctions. We counted six in this photo in amongst auctioneer Phillip Kingston from Gary Peer. 7A Nightingale St Kilda East. Bought After $1,200,000. 1 bidder.

At 6pm Saturday the James Clearance Rate on the 22 $M+ Auctions we covered was 59%.

Our Demand Indicator Bidderman was 2.2.  Hmmm – an interesting increase but it was off a very low turnover.

Today’s Highlights

1)      Bidders were present at 18 of the 22 auctions we covered –  and at three auctions there were 6+bidders

• 23 Sunburst Avenue Balwyn North (Doug McLauchlan of Marshall White)
• 12 Lennox St Hawthorn (Russell Turner of Christopher Russell)
• 7 Monomeath Avenue Toorak (Justin Long of Marshall White)

2)      The Pies are top of the ladder – and the election is on

We couldn’t find many $M+ auctions worth covering and only one of the auctions we covered went over $2m this weekend. So with the small numbers – just coming out of  the winter hiatus – it was like a first back training run before we get into the winter season proper over the next few weeks.

Agent Quotes

Scott Patterson of Jellis Craig: “Sold 12 from 16 today throughout the company. Opens and auctions were well attended…those who wish to sell in next month or two could enjoy quite solid results due to lack of supply, because demand seems reasonable… August 28 is looming as big weekend, particularly as it is now the week after the election…only thing is that Hawthorn vs Collingwood might affect crowd numbers etc…’

Hamish Tostevin of Marshall White: ”Opens were steady without being over-run with buyers. Certainly a lack of property at the moment in terms of supply. Should be a solid spring, particularly when the election is out of the way.”

Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted (by the school holidays)?

It has been a month since we last reported, and we have seen more Top End activity at Tullamarine than in any other suburb. Was it sales? No. It was our selling agent brethren jetting off to Europe to recharge their batteries. This poor humble buyer agent can only give you a travelogue on the Dubbo Zoo so I won’t bore you with tales of kids and a 12-hour car drive or the fact it ain’t a patch on the Werribee Zoo.

The world is a different place since our last report: back then Kevin ’07 was in charge, Masterchef was still a competition to find the best amateur chef in Australia, not the luckiest cook as it is now, and our $M+ market had prices cooling quicker than a Melbourne winter, after a blistering start to the year (although there were still an incredibly high number of buys).

A month ago we reported that the early 2010 gains had evaporated in the five auction weeks of May due to the sheer number of listings. May’s record supply finally stopped what had, since March 2009, been a rising market, driven initially by international buyer demand and then solid local demand.

So what is happening in our Winter Market (June to August) right now?

To be frank we don’t know for sure yet. But here are some of our thoughts.

1. Prices Now
2. Stock Quality Now
3. Method of Sale Now
4. Risk v Reward Now

Prices Now
Selling agents love to use the ‘p’ word plateau (rather than the four letter ‘f’ word)  to reflect on, or deflect away, thoughts of a declining price market. Right now, we actually agree with the ‘p’ word – especially if you accept that prices fell significantly in May and June. (By the way, the ‘f’ word that selling agents don’t like to use is fall.)

Some reasons prices may be plateuaing are:

• Seasonally reduced action (winter)
• An election on the horizon –  so some buyers and would-be sellers will pause to wait for the result.
• We had a big price fall in May and  for most of us market watchers the way forward is still unclear. Will we see more price drops or …. who knows? Like many, we are waiting for a sign.

Demand in Relation to Price

• This weekend Bidderman was at 2.2 – but, please note, this is based on very low auction volumes and therefore statistical distortions are possible.
• As a buying company,  we have had commitments from a significant number of new clients over the past few weeks.
• We feel it’s better to reflect overall demand as more cautious rather than dropping – however another month or two may tell us a different story.
• Right now, buyers still do have the rare luxury of having their cake and eating it too – if they choose to. Prices have fallen in May/June, and in July we are in a market of reasonable choice. Hooray for buyers!

Private Sale Clearance Rate – the number of Proven Sales is only 11 from 50 – or 22% – over the past six weeks.

Six weeks ago we randomly selected a basket of 50 higher end Private Sale and Expression of Interest properties, right across our $M+ Melbourne market. We did this with the aim of  checking  what was bought 6 weeks later (roughly the same time as a “go to whoa” auction campaign), and to therefore calculate the clearance rates  to see how Private Sales and Expressions of Interest were really going.

We thought this snapshot would provide the best reflection of private sale market activity and confirm or question comments by some selling agents that: “Oh yes, auctions were not as good as March, but we are selling a heap via private sale”. The results proved that while in May agents were selling a heap, it wasn’t so much the case in late June to early July. However,  it could have just been that many agents were away.

• We have made an effort to contact those that were withdrawn without a sale price, and we may have missed a few sales – but overall the non-auction homes are NOT running out the door any faster than the auctions. In fact you could make a strong argument that, as an effective method of sale, auctions are still outperforming private sales in many cases – despite the declining clearance rates, given that only 1 in 4 private sale properties have been bought in 6 weeks.
• These figures must surely help smart buyers put together an offering strategy. It’s certainly prompted us here at James Buyer Advocates to change how we buy in the last two months.

Today’s final word on price – are you a glass half empty of half full person?

If you feel the double-dip recession is fast approaching and the world as we knew it is about to end, then, by all means, don’t buy – and in fact sell (and please give us a ring if you have a good home to sell).

If you feel Julia (Gillard) won’t be changing the legitimate immigration numbers any time soon (demand) and Justin (Madden) won’t be able to release large numbers of housing blocks in Inner Melbourne because they are not there (supply), you may wish to ignore the doomsayers and take advantage of this current price breather combined with good stock offering. The GFC lasted less than a year  (for us) and in July 2010 Melbourne $M+ home prices are still 20 to 30 per cent above 2008 GFC home prices. Remember the 2008 ‘bulls**t’ rumour of the year, which said the NAB and other banks were about to foreclose on 200 homes in Toorak alone – it never happened. Yes we are biased and make a living by encouraging buyers to buy – but the facts are still very positive for buyers.

Stock Quality Going Forward
Spring quality and auction numbers are the variables we don’t have a clear handle on as yet. Right here and now in July, we have a market with excellent stock numbers for buyers – if you know where to look and you actually act correctly (please see the following paragraph on methods of sale). We also think the quality is good. Going forward, quality stock levels are not clear to us, because traditionally when quality sellers see a declining market they are loathe to put their home on the market on a speculative basis (in that, if they don’t have to sell, they won’t). This obviously leads to less stock on the market, which may affect price but, more importantly, it affects choice. Good buying decisions are more likely when, along with good advice, you, the buyer, have good choice.  You have that now.

Method of Sale
As we said, there is choice now if you know where to look, whom to ask and how to deal. Look at the above private sale table – there are some good homes there. We keep overhang lists (stales and unsolds) and there are also a number of off-markets and quiet pre-releases available. Granted, some of the vendors are still in their price cocoons but  quality sellers who have adjusted their price expectations may have homes worth considering. The off-market (unadvertised properties) may well be the market of choice for a number of buyers and sellers in the next few months.  But, please note buyers, you will have to sharpen your negotiation strategies to take advantage of all that is on offer.

Risk v Reward
To digress – Risk v Reward is where Masterchef’s Adam and Claire had it all over Jono. While Jono was going for the big dish on every occasion – and you have to admire him for that – he wasn’t playing the game to the best of his abilities. Adam is the quiet master at the Masterchef game. He sees a situation and says: “Yeah, I want to try and make a dish that will impress the judges and maybe get me a shot at immunity – the reward – but I don’t want to push the boundaries that far that I risk getting in the elimination round if I fail.” Good Home Buying and Negotiation is absolutely the same as this. Why is that? Because in the first instance the strategy should be to get yourself into a strong position and not risk all for the pot of gold. Once you are in that strong position, then you can make a run for the prize. Another analogy is acclimatising at base camp before you make the assault on the Everest summit. This is Risk v Reward.

A full James Buyer Opinion on Risk v Reward in today’s Market will be published here on Tuesday – so look out for it this week. At the moment you will find our biggest ever ‘clicked on’ James Buyer Opinion article – The Learning Fee - right next to this article.

It’s good to be back

We Only Buy Homes

Mal

Balwyn North 23 Sunburst. Big Crowd for Doug McLauchlan of Marshall White - 125 in fact. Seven bidders. Bought under the hammer for $1,567,000.

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

Brighton 3 Keith Court: Ian Jackson and Stewart Lopez of Kay and Burton show us there is nothing wrong with good land and a view. 4 bidders and a sold sticker at $2,900,000.

Six out of seven in Brighton East were bought at auction today but at expected levels, not ridiculous prices. The highlight for me being that after a flurry of $2m offerings in previous weeks; you can still find some reasonable $1m to $1.5m buying in Carrington, Grant, Griffin, Rogers, Plunket and Margaret Streets as evidenced today.

Land sale at 26 Bright Street – Halli Moore Buxton. On first glance you may say land is dropping below $2000 per sq metre; but closer inspection would show you its south facing and a difficult triangular block. No, prices are not dropping overall right now – they are stabilizing or not going up as quickly.

The rest a Bayside was a mixed bag with Black Rock and Beaumaris passing in 3 out of 4 reported auctions. Brighton had 11 auctions but they were not all top of the pops with just over half sold restoring our belief that buyers can, when not running scared, make good decisions.

While in Brighton I notice 17 Albert St was bought for just under $4million - Justin Follett from Kay and Burton – I liked this home, great spot, been with several agents –surprised it took so long to sell.

Off Markets:

There is no doubt off markets are on the increase in Bayside at present with JP Dixon and Kay and Burton  getting a few away on the Golden Mile and surrounds such as another one in Albert St area recently. Off markets are an interesting phenomenon and seem to take the house to a new level for some buyers just because it is “off- market”. We do buy them – especially at the $3m+ level and one thing we try and emphasize to buyers is great, they are off market and secret, but they still need normal due diligence carried out on them including paperwork checks, pest and building and the all important fair value test. When you find an off market it’s not naturally better; it’s just a home with a different method of sale.

Apartments and Townhouses:

Enquiry for these is on the rise as well. A well positioned one selling in Sussex St mid week for just under $3million through Regina Schmidt and David Hart of Buxton and Buxton also getting another apartment away in the big multi development site in Well Street just out the back of the Church St shops – the price was $2,300,000.

Some further highlights:

Mark Earle of Buxton sold 9 and 11 Myrtle Road Sandringham with a combined 7 bidders for just over $3,000,000. The thing I found of interest in these two auctions within the same hour, is how two very different homes side by side can end up close to each other in value. You couldn’t have two more dissimilar homes – read our auction reviews and ratings below – smaller land and great little home versus bigger land and very basic home.

3 Keith Court Brighton – Ian Jackson and Gail Pullen. Just how much is a view worth. No value in the house except as a building footprint. $2,900,000 was the result at an auction, where one of the four bidders seemed way too young to be having that sort of money, however for  the 580 sqms it worked out at $5000 per sq metre exactly. Good – keep forever views.

Line that up against 12 Young street (passed in yesterday) – similar distance from water – 100 metres but no views and their 689 sqm couldn’t get a bid at $2,000,000 or $3,000 per sqm. When they say Brighton has $million dollar views I guess this proves it.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Brighton 2 Manor: Bought After $5,580,000. Bidderman 1. Great home and great price. Well done to buyer and seller and agents Regina Schmidt and Brian Devlin - you're all winners on this one.

A quieter week in terms of numbers, given the Anzac  long weekend, and results were as expected.  Some sold strongly, some passed in, some sold after.  The ‘golden triangle’ in Black Rock continued to sell, with Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon selling 16 Glenmore Crescent for $1,820,000 and a well run campaign by Jason Gill of Hodges at 49 Were Street in Brighton, saw  James Paynter (auctioneer) bring down the hammer at $2,230,000.  Both properties, although liveable, will require work in the future.

The big auction for Bayside this week was with Buxton’s David Hart at 2 Manor Street, Brighton – a stellar location and property.  Initially passing in at $5,000,000, David successfully negotiated the price up to $5,580,000.  Chris Bevan of JP Dixon got another ‘biggie’ away during the week in Martin Street, Brighton, down on the ‘golden mile’ for a little over $8,000,000.

A few that passed in, were 3 Bruce Street, Beaumaris – land only with a north rear for  $1,080,000, 40 Edward Street, Sandringham  for $1,100,000 and 1 Roslyn Street, Brighton on a vendor bid of $1,450,000.

May will see 5 weekends of auctions this year and should provide us with information regarding the continuing strength and numbers in the market.  Speaking with Justin Follett of Kay & Burton on stock levels, he advised they have more auctions coming up for May than for the same time last year.  They have experienced a strong start to year and he believes the market may stabilize over the next few months.  Good news for both buyers and sellers.

Happy Wife  Happy Life

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

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: 4 Dawson Avenue: Matthew Morley in Action. Bidderman 3. Bought under the hammer for $2,460,000 or $3770 a sqm for Golden Mile land.

Another 24 sales over $1,000,000 in Bayside, moving the average for the month to 2.5 per day. It’s 6pm Saturday afternoon, and so far, our research shows 24 of 27 reported properties in Bayside have sold.  19 at auction, 3 before and 1 each by expression of interest and private sale. 

The current clearance rate is 86% in Bayside and bidderman 2.75 for the 4 auctions we covered, although only 2 across all of the auctions we have covered this weekend. Highett was the leader in strength today.  Three properties on offer and three sales – all over $1,000,000.

John Spiers of  JP Dixon auctioned a good house in an average street in Highett, rating 669 on 572 sqm,  at 24 Noyes Street, Highett.  Three bidders took the price over a million dollars (not often seen in Highett until recently), passing in at $1,020,000 and successfully selling immediately after for $1,050,000. Hodges Real Estate had a successful day, with  James Paynter selling 43 Ashwood Avenue, a three bedroom, single living room period home, with small rear garden, rating 676, for $1,192,000. 

Meanwhile, Peter Alpar, successfully sold 2 Morley Crescent, a new large family home, for $1,302,000.  No we are not talking about Beaumaris – this is Highett. Kate Smith and Stephen Tickell of Hocking Stuart showed their skill at 17 Kirkwood Ave, Sandringham.  This was an old English classic, that needed a cosmetic makeover.  Passing in with two bidders, it was sold after for $1,885,000 – a strong result but not completely unexpected in that Royal Avenue Precinct. Nice note from the owner politely correcting a factual error or two (thank you) who is moving to greener pastures in Port Phillip. 

Two in Brighton both had 3 bidders.  4 Dawson Street, auctioned by Matthew Morley of Morleys Real Estate, sold under the hammer for $2,640,000 and Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon passed 10 Kent Ave in at $2,100,000 but was successful in  selling the property for a bit more afterwards. Looking at 3 of the 4 properties passing in, perhaps Vendor expectations are creeping beyond the Buyers, but then quickly placed back in check upon reflection, given the negotiated sales afterwards.

The big land sale this week was on Brighton’s Golden Mile – 14 North Road, 1551 sqm rating 665 with a south facing rear sold after an expressions of interest campaign by Chris O’Farrell of JP Dixon for a little over $3,500 p/sqm.

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

Elwood: 30 Wave St: Sam Gamon: WHERE DID THAT BID COME FROM? Bought $1.775m. Photo - Jen Milligan

John Holdsworth and Andrew Stuart of Hocking Stuart had the biggest auction with 34 Ferrars Place South Melbourne at $4.71million and the biggest pass-in at $7m+ at 121 Beaconsfield Parade Albert Park.

Wherever you went from Sandringham to Port Melbourne to Elwood to Bentleigh our advocates and reporters called in million dollar sales – over 50 in fact. Yep -50. There were also a number of pass-ins, at least 22 over a million and a number remain unreported. Again as we have said in other market wraps there are buying opportunities over the next few weeks pre Christmas – keep your wits about you and if it makes sense to you, why not think about jumping in.

Black Rock: 9 Bayview Crescent: The house the crowd is looking at sold for $1.725m which, according to Jenny Dwyer, has broken the Black Rock sqm record.

Bentleigh, Ormond and McKinnon – talking with Peter Sinclair, Melissa Ryan and Nick Renna also of Hocking Stuart after their very successful $1.055m result on 21 Wood St Bentleigh we got to theorizing that those  buyers that are coming to Bentleigh by necessity (many families come by choice) may in fact be coming from  NOT traditional Bayside suburbs such as Brighton or East Brighton (Bidderman below 2 most auctions) but may in fact be being squeezed out of suburbs such as Glen Iris and Malvern East where Bidderman week in and week out is between 4 and 5 on the better suited family homes. The $1.2m result in Hughesdale – yep Hughesdale where nobody really batted an eye may confirm this theory or it may simply be that finally Melbournians are coming of age and realizing just how great and how cheap some of our inner city suburbs and homes are when you compare to Sydney and the rest of the world. It’s good to talk to Pete, Melissa and Nick – lots of knowledge there.

Continuing on the result at 21 Wood St Bentleigh (land only) which confirms that last weeks 28 St James Bentleigh sale at $1,038,000 was at market and proves in our mind that land east of Jasper Road – almost Bentleigh East; in that Higgins Road sporting complex precinct (James recommended precinct) is now being calculated at over $1200 per sq metre on the good blocks.

Bidderman 1.6

James Attended Auction Reports below

HAMPTON, 9 Deakin St Nth – Passed in – no bidders (Hodges)
Auctioneer Julian Augustini (Hodges) had his work cut out for him today, with no response from the very small crowd attending this auction. The property was passed in following a second vendor bid of $1.325m.

MIDDLE PARK, 10 Langridge St – Bought – three bidders – (Hocking Stuart)
Although Auctioneer David Wood waited patiently for the sound of constant chatter to subside and give way to a bid, it was only after he offered a vendor bid of $1,400,000 that 3 of the 60 people in the crowd decided to begin a slow race to the finish. The property was declared on-the-market at $1,505,000 and the miserly bids continued. As the threat of rain was mentioned by Mr Wood, to fast track the result no doubt, 2 of the 3 bidders declared their limit and Mr Wood clapped the highest bidder “sold” at $1,610,000.

BLACK ROCK, 9 Bayview Crescent – Bought – six bidders (Hocking Stuart)
Huge interest in this executor’s house, with a crowd upward of 150 people. Cyclists, walkers families and developers all keen to see what would happen to this property in a prime location close to the beach. Stephen Tickell (Hocking Stuart), assisted by Jenny Dwyer, took the reigns, with the auction opening on a genuine bid of $1.2m. Five more bidders joined in the action and bidding quickly exceeded the $1.25m reserve. The house eventually sold for $1.725m which, according to Ms Dwyer, has broken the record per square foot in Black Rock.

HAMPTON, 52 Linacre St – Bought – three bidders (RT Edgar)
An extremely large crowd gathered at this auction, which opened on a genuine bid of $2.2m. Auctioneer Greg Costello, (RT Edgar), took bids from three parties, but the property failed to sell, passing in at $2.325m. It sold later for $2,437,500.

SANDRINGHAM, 4 Keats St – Passed in – no bidders (Hodges)
A very quiet crowd of about 20 people attended this action where the only chatter came from children playing in a nearby yard. Auctioneer Julian Augustini (Hodges) did his best to get a reaction from the small gathering but there were no bites and the property was passed in on a second vendor bid of $1.52m.

ALBERT PARK, 121 Beaconsfield Parade – Passed in – no bidders (Hocking Stuart)
It seemed there was a garden party on at Beaconsfield Parade today. The 100 or so people inspected the historical property, enjoyed the bay views and were even soothed by the sounds of the water feature in the front garden. A lovely time was had by all except Auctioneer Andrew Stuart. There was no popping of the bubbly at this garden gathering!  Mr Stuart could not coerce a single bid from the large crowd even after making what he termed “a very low vendor bid of $7,000,000” to open proceedings at this auction. No. 121 was Passed-In and everybody went home.

ELWOOD, 30 Wave St – Bought – two bidders (Chisholm & Gamon)
A most tranquil setting with birds singing, the hustle and bustle of St Kilda a stone’s throw away and only the distant hum of traffic could be heard…Enter vibrant auctioneer Sam Gamon (Chisholm & Gamon) and his assistant Shane Banfield who launched into a tag team entertainment routine using famous lines such as “how’s the serenity” and telling the small but attentive crowd that everyday was a holiday in beautiful Elwood. And, although the auction got off to a fairly slow start, the expertise and perseverance of Mr Gamon saw two  bidders enter the fray and strongly contest this modern house, reaching a sale price of $1.755m. A lot of happiness from the crowd for the new owners of the property.

BENTLEIGH, 21 Wood St – Bought – three bidders (Hocking Stuart)
A very quick hot auction, typical of Hocking Stuart’s Nick Renna. Opening on a vendor bid of $800,000 it was soon on the market at $890000. Voracious bidding saw the house sell for $1.055m. Great vibe with a crowd of around 70 people and three bidders.

BRIGHTON, 49 William St – Passed in – no bidders (Buxton)
Despite the hard work of auctioneer Leigh Hallamore (Buxton) there were no bids at the auction of this Brighton property. A reasonably large crowd of around 70 people saw the property pass in on a vendor bid of $2.95m. Two or three interested parties were seen in discussion following the auction so it should be interesting to see if there are any further developments in the coming days.

ST KILDA WEST, 42 Mary St – Passed in – one bidder (Bennison Mackinnon)
A crowd of 50 people walked to Mary St to watch an auction conducted by Damien O’Sullivan. An opening bid of $2m was immediately followed by a Vendor Bid of $2.25m. Mr O’Sullivan described the vendor bid as “ being in the bottom end of the guide” and then, proceedings came to an abrupt halt. No further bids resulted in the property being Passed-In.

BRIGHTON, 23 Cosham St – Passed in – no bidders (Kay & Burton)
A good crowd of 90+ gathered in the front drive-way of 23 Cosham St. You could smell the sea-breeze and feel the anticipation as Gerald Delany stepped out. He boomed out and wasn’t shy to start with a vendor bid of $5 million. He said he wasn’t surprised by the lack of bidding as ‘no-one likes to be the first bidder’. No one was confident enough to bid and it passed in pretty quickly at the initial vendor bid as the rain started to set in.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Albert Park, 55 OGrady: Hey, Andrew! Yes, Michael? I told you the quote was courageous for a single-fronted. Don't talk to me, Michael, I'm in a bad mood - where are those buyers?

Bayside had some strong results, although it was the quietest area for sales of $m+; so overall it was mixed. Good agents are recognising that results are mixed in inner and outer Bayside and this is proven with six sold before auction. Also of note were four apartment sales over $1 million in the past week.

Sales of interest included 25 Menzies Ave (Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon), which sold before auction for more than $3 million after being off-market for a long time. David Wilson also of JP Dixon reportedly sold 23 South Road for in excess of $3 million – a good result.

Auctions we attended this week:

BRIGHTON, 476 New St Bought – four bidders.
A good vibe at the auction of this handsome, renovated, period gem. Auctioneer John Clarkson took bids past the reserve price to a successful sale. Four bidders and a crowd of 80 people.

BRIGHTON EAST, 28 Pine St Bought – five bidders.
A strong result for Leigh Hallamore and Bert Stewart. A slow start but bidding picked up in the end. This land-only property sold under the hammer for $1.921 million. Five bidders.

SANDRINGHAM, 12 Henry St Passed in – no bidders.
A terrific address from auctioneer Martin Ewart, for Ray White, failed to produce any response from the small crowd. A vendor bid of $1 million opened proceedings, but the property was passed in without any further bids.

HAMPTON, 3 Garden St Bought – two bidders.
A crowd of 40 clapped and cheered when this house sold under the hammer for $1.415 million. Auctioneer Mark Earle started proceedings with a vendor bid of $1.3 million and the property was on the market at $1.4 million before selling at the abovementioned price. Two bidders.

BENTLEIGH, 39 Robert St Bought after – no bidders.
Auctioneer Nick Renna opened proceedings with a vendor bid of $1.1 million, followed by a second vendor bid of $1.15 million. Despite Mr Renna’s best efforts, there was no response from the crowd and the property was passed in without any genuine bids. It sold later for $1.28 million.

ALBERT PARK, 55 O’Grady St Passed in – no bidders.
Despite the best efforts of auctioneer Andrew Stuart, and a big crowd of more than 80 people, this auction failed to attract any bids. Passed in after a vendor bid of $2.4 million.

ELWOOD, 356 Barkly St Bought after- one bidder.
A second vendor bid of $1.175 million became a genuine bid when someone from the crowd of around 30 offered that exact price. However, the property failed to sell despite the efforts of auctioneer Torsten Kasper.

Happy Wife Happy Life

St Kilda West: 22 Park: Great day for an Auction: Well we thought so but nobody else did: Passed In

While Inner East flies Bayside still presents buying opportunities -

Three Facts about our Bayside – Beaumaris, Brighton to Port Melbourne

• 58% Clearance rate on 36 auctions yesterday – that’s low.
• Less than one bidder auction today. That’s right Bidderman below one – that is a falling market if it continues.
• Some of the nicest buyer agents live there.

Beaumaris: 29 Haydens: Hey Jen! Steve I'm focused! Jen, where have those bidders gone? Steve Tickell & Jenny Dwyer. Passed In

If you hate the beach, love traffic and have got plenty of money stay looking for your double fronteds in Armadale and Hawthorn – only trouble is the coffee shops are full in between open times with fellow depressed non-buyers; oh and Maserati dealers looking for selling agents (that was unfair). No, no, no young men go South and take your woman with you – show her a good time at Hampton’s Brown Cow and while you are gazing into her eyes nodding that yes you really do get “Happy Wife – Happy Life” drift off into the clouds and dream about your mortgage lender’s expression when he realizes you’re not going near your limit to buy your dream home.

The $5m+ market is alive and well in Brighton and in fact has been stronger all year, than it’s “wealthiest suburb” challengers Hawthorn, Canterbury, Toorak and Malvern; however the $1m to $3m market is not as strong especially in the fringe suburbs of Hampton, Sandringham and Beaumaris.

This is best evidenced by a sample Saturday’s results

James Auction Reports

54 Shasta Brighton East – Bought Afterwards – no bidders during auction
Auctioneer Peter Kennett of Hocking Stuart was not able to elicit any response from the crowd and passed the development property in on his second vendor bid at $1.7m

29 Haydens Road Beaumaris – Passed In – No bidders
A crowd of about 50 gathered around the outside pool in glorious sunshine to watch this auction. Despite the lovely setting and a chatty crowd, there were no bids forthcoming. Auctioner Steve Tickell opened with a vendor bid of $1.12 million but there were no takers and the property passed in at this price.

19 Chatsworth Brighton – Bought Afterwards – 2 bidders
2 bidders joined in on top of the opening vendor bid of $2.6m from Jason Gill of Hodges. Passed in at $2.89m and sold after at $2.95 million. Almost a $500,000 improvement on when it sold late last year.

33 The Avenue Hampton – Bought Before

52 Black St Brighton – No bidders
Small crowd saw no bids at all come forward to auctioneer Jonathan Dixon.

5 Manor St Brighton – Bought – 3 bidders
Auctioneer Leigh Hallamore of Buxton opened with a vendor bid of $1.2m and 3 bidders from the crowd of 50 joined in until it was sold at $1,705,000.

16 Tennyson St Sandringham – Bought – 2 bidders
A picnic atmosphere prevailed here, with many of the 100-strong crowd sitting on the lawn to watch proceedings. It was the first time in 50 years that this house had been offered and that generated a lot of buzz from the crowd. Auctioneer Mark Earle opened with a vendor bid of $1.65 million and two bidders joined in. There seemed to be a lot of happiness from the crowd when a family bought the home for $1.861 million.

47 Reed St Albert Park – Passed In – No bidders
The sun was hot but the vibe was cool at this auction. Auctioneer Oliver Bruce opened with a vendor bid of $2.3 million and followed it with a second vendor bid of $2.38 million after no-one from the 40-strong crowd offered a bid. The property was passed in at that price.

290 Cecil St South Melbourne – Sold After – One bidder
In front of 30 people, auctioneer Andrew Stuart opened proceedings here with a vendor bid of $1.6 million. The sole bidder made a bid of $1.61 million and the property was passed in at that price.

20 Asling St Brighton – Passed In – No bidders
A crowd of 70 saw Jonathan Dixon pass-in this home on one of two vendor bids at 2.5m.

22 Park Street St Kilda West – Passed In – One bidder
About 100 people attended this auction, which auctioneer Tony Pride opened with a vendor bid of $2.5 million. The sole bidder made a bid of $2.55 million, which was followed up by a second vendor bid of $2.7 million and the property was passed in at that price.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Oh and don’t forget Elsternwick
17 Regent St Elsternwick  Renovator - great spot and great bones.
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2008025585
James Auction Report: In front of 80 people, an optimistic bid of $800,000 started this auction. Lots of bidding and lots of entertainment here – seven bidders and the property sold for $1.39 million.
In Hawthorn this would have pushed $1.8m to $1.9m

Canterbury, 19 Rubens: Would you believe it? Missed by that much. Actually Richard James of Jellis Craig does not miss all that often. Four bidders. Bought for $3.301 million. Good result for agent Daniel Bradd as well.

It is 6pm Saturday and the James Auction Clearance Rate on the 32 $1m+ properties we attended and reported on today was 72 per cent.

The REIV’s clearance rate was declared at 82 per cent but they are missing around 200 auction results and our guess is the clearance rate has dropped below 80 per cent for the first time in a long time.

But, hey, there were 1000 auctions – it’s the Grand Final, the Melbourne Cup and the Masters of 2009 all rolled into one for selling agents. This is it – the big one; and things went pretty well for sellers and not so good for buyers who didn’t buy and were hoping for a little sign of decline.

What’s Hot x 2

• Family Homes in Boroondara and Stonnington in $1m to $3m range.
• 166 Mont Albert Road Canterbury - seven bidders – $4.01 million.
  James Auction Report: James Tostevin started slowly, taking a $2.95 million opening bid in front of a big crowd of around 80, all nicely spaced out around the tennis court. Seven bidders later, in what seemed like an eternity on the last few bids, saw the hammer come down a bit gingerly at $10,000 over $4 million.
• 20 Callantina Road Hawthorn- five bidders – $6.125 million.
  James Auction Report: About 130 people saw this auction open with a genuine bid of $4.9 million. There were five bidders and the property was on the market at $5.65 million. The eventual buyer was a determined bidder who stayed strong throughout the auction process and bought the property for $6.125 million.

What’s Not Hot

• This weekend: surprisingly, Malvern East’s Gasgoine Estate was dead as a doornail today, with three pass-ins from three homes (0 per cent clearance); as was Toorak, with only one from five selling, or 20 per cent clearance rate, but everywhere else in Stonnington was very strong.
• Bayside was definitely weaker than Stonnington or Boroondara. In Bayside, six out of 11 $1 million-plus auctions we attended sold, or 54 per cent clearance rate. In Stonnington and Boroondara, it was 16 out of 20, or 80 per cent for $1 million-plus homes.
• There are still some cheaper homes in Bayside. Hampton is cheap compared to Kew and Hawthorn.
• PPP (Price, Property, Position) ADVICE from our AUCTION REPORTERS
  If you hate the beach, love traffic and have got plenty of money, stay looking for your double-fronteds in Armadale and Hawthorn. The only trouble is the coffee shops are full in between open times with fellow depressed non-buyers; oh and Maserati dealers looking for selling agents (that was unfair). No, no, no, young men go south and take your woman with you – show her a good time at the Brown Cow at Hampton and, while you are gazing into her eyes nodding that, yes, you really do get “Happy Wife – Happy Life”, drift off into the clouds and dream about your mortgage lender’s expression when he realises you’re not going near your borrowing limit to buy your dream home.

De Ja Vu – Not Really – 2008 and 2009

19 Chatsworth Avenue Brighton auctioned pre-Melbourne Cup Weekend 2008 and then again today.

James Auction Report 2008: “Energetic comments from Leigh Hallimore didn’t draw any bids, despite his offer to take any bids prior to his opening and closing vendor bids.” Quote was $3,2 million. Sold sometime later for around $2.5 million.
James Auction Report 2009: Two bidders joined in on top of the opening vendor bid of $2.6 million from Jason Gill of Hodges. Passed in at $2.89 million and sold after at $2.95 million. Almost a $500,000 improvement on when it sold late last year.

As this is the big one for 2009, we have focused this edition on results, results, results. What is really happening out there in the trenches? From that, you should be able to work out what will happen in the run-up to Christmas. Here are our auction reporter summaries and these are their stories.

Gina – Bayside (attended auctions in Prahran, Albert Park and South Melbourne)

• Very quiet and quite flat atmosphere at auctions.
• None of these auctions sold and there were few bids (one bidder made one bid at Prahran, none at Albert Park and one bidder made one bid at South Melbourne).
• Most of the crowd at all three auctions seemed to be neighbours – most came on foot and didn’t hang around to see auction results.
• No Chinese bidders at any of these auctions.

Annette (four auctions – Hawthorn, Malvern, Malvern and St Kilda West)

• Good crowds – 70, 80, 100, 130.
• Good numbers of bidders – 6, 5, 5 (but just one bidder and one bid at St Kilda West).
• One Asian bidder at Claremont (but wasn’t the buyer). Largest presence of Asian people at these auctions was at Callantina but they were not involved in the bidding.
• Crowd at Park St, St Kilda West was a “younger crowd” but it also had least atmosphere – quite sombre, people were keeping hands in pockets.
• Crowd chatty and strong bidding and crowd interest at Claremont and Stanhope. Also big crowd interest at Callantina but it did sell for $6 million.

Jenny (two auctions – Beaumaris and Sandringham)

• Mixed atmosphere and results. Beaumaris had a chatty crowd but no bids. Lovely setting – held around the pool, people in crowd commented that they thought sunny weather and lovely setting would put people in the mood but it didn’t appear to. Passed in on the vendor bid.
• Sandringham – first time this house had been offered in 50 years, so generated a lot of interest. Crowd seemed buzzy and genuinely happy when family bought the house. Two bidders.

David (Bayside – Brighton and Hampton)

• Five auctions, plus one sold before.
• Four passed in.
• Small crowds.
• Flat overall.

Julia (five auctions – Hawthorn East x 2, Canterbury, Malvern East, Malvern)

• Big crowds – 125, 60, 100+, 130, 200.
• Not huge numbers of bidders - one at Victoria Rd, four at Rubens Grove, three at Finch St, none at Central Park Rd and one at Deanlea Court.
• Of the four bidders at Rubens Grove, two were Asian and they were the final two bidders after the other two dropped out. The bidding got quite aggressive between these two and one bidder (who was eventual buyer) was very keen to buy it.
• With the other auctions, all felt buzzy at the start and like they would build into something big but then never did. There were four pass-ins and only Rubens Grove sold under the hammer.

Adam (three auctions – Balwyn North x 2, Hawthorn)

• Big crowds – 80 at each.
• Bidders – not many but they were quick-fire auctions. There were probably more bidders there than bid but they didn’t get a chance to get their hands up.
• Didn’t see any Asian bidders
• An anecdote: because it was such a big auction day today, all of the Marshall White crew and team working were supplied with bottles of water and snack packs to keep their energy up throughout the day.

Tom (two auctions – Toorak and Elsternwick – a tale of two cities)

• No real interest at Toorak but seven bidders at Elsternwick.
• Summary from Tom: “On Saturdays, I do auction reporting to get out in the fresh air and see the buzz of different parts of Melbourne, the people, the houses, the streets. I have always had an interest in houses and have a special interest in Californian Bungalows and 1930s Art Deco. Since March, the property market has been on fire with prices that defy my bookkeeper’s conservatism. The market seems to be back where it was in the last half of 2007 and I am surprised at how competitive it is at auctions these days. Well located family homes in the inner suburbs under $2 million is a very strong market – they never seem to go out of fashion.”

MORE ADVICE from our AUCTION REPORTERS
17 Regent St Elsternwick Renovator - great spot and great bones.
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2008025585
James Auction Report: In front of 80 people, an optimistic bid of $800,000 started this auction. Lots of bidding and lots of entertainment here – seven bidders and the property sold for $1.39 million. In Hawthorn, this would have pushed $1.8 to $1.9 million.

HISTORY LESSON – rewind one year to same pre-Melbourne Cup weekend 2008

James Market Insight, 25 October 2008:
At 5pm Saturday, just two of the 13 auctions we attended today have sold under the hammer, with another two or three expected to be sold overnight.

Here are three quality home auctions from 25 October 2008 – they would have all sold well today.

85 St Vincent Place Albert Park:
James Auction Report 25 Oct 2008: Biggest crowd I’ve seen this year to hear auctioneer Andrew Macmillan put on his first-rate routine: he starts quietly, forcing the crowd across the road to move to him, and he made some very humorous comments. So I, as usual, enjoyed the show, as did everybody else, except, at time of leaving, the owner. Class property, class auctioneer – no result yet.

28 Thanet St Malvern
James Auction Report 25 Oct 25th: “The opening bid from the crowd was well below the quote. Another bidder made one bid and then another offered a smaller increase, which wasn’t accepted. The property was passed in to the highest bidder – not sure this will sell unless there is major movement from either buyer or seller.”

1 Fairlie Court South Yarra
James Auction Report 25 Oct 2008: “Auctioneer Jeremy Fox started by saying this home was worth $5 million and then called out a $4.5 million opening vendor bid. There was no response from the crowd.”

Lots more detail below on each auction in our Market Wraps and NO MARKET NEWS NEXT WEEK on the Melbourne Cup Long Weekend. We return the week after for the run to Christmas.

Buy Well

Mal

Thank you for a huge effort today from many people:

A big thank you to all our auction reporters and auction and sale coordinators Melinda Brown and Simone Clarke – it is not easy dealing with grumpy advocates each week and getting a wide coverage of million-dollar-plus auctions up in a timely manner on a Saturday night. But you do it and do it well. Thank you.

Thank you also for the continuing support we receive from selling agents Marshall White, Benmac, Kay and Burton, RT Edgar, Hocking Stuart, Noel Jones, Biggin and Scott, JP Dixon, Jellis Craig to name a few. We published a strong article last week, which we 100 per cent stand by and we were challenged on a number of points during the week,. It was robust but polite discussion and no agent pressured us to stop writing opinion pieces and no agent stopped us reporting their results (good or bad) today. Thank you.

Ormond: 133 Wheatley: Nick Renna bought the usual racing sized crowd of over 130 people. 4 bidders. Opening Bid $1.05m. On the market at $1.1m and bought for $1.23 million.

Lots of homes to report on. In not the best part of Brighton East – 20 Letchworth Avenue – which is down towards Moorabbin; saw a block of land sale by Andrew Urquhart of JP Dixon of just over a million or $1500+ per sq metre. While down that way Jacquie Maggs of JP Dixon also sold a brand new home on similar land size (643sqm) facing onto Dendy Park for in excess of $2.5m - 78 Glencairn Avenue. That is solid.

Middle Park: 221 Beaconsfield: Andrew Stuart and John Holdsworth: Bought for $4,600,000. 3 bidders

Moving into Central Brighton Justin Follett of Kay and Burton who seems to be the “$3m agent” around Bayside at the moment finally got 12 Campbell St Brighton away through an Expressions of Interest campaign at a price in excess of $3m. Looks it is an OK build and has the glitz but I remember walking through there six months ago and thinking $2.6 ish and said to Justin you are dreaming at $3m+. He smiled. When you compare it to the new home sale in Vaucluse St only a few hundred metres away earlier the year – February I think at $2.1m you can see just how far the market has moved. I acknowledge that Campbell is a slightly better street and product but it is marginal and Vaucluse was north facing rear.

Solid but expected result for Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart at 6 Keats St in Sandringham. Even if it’s not perfect – if its central Sandy and period then what seemed such a mountain last year – high one million’s – is now becoming very achievable again.

James Auction Report: A massive turn out for Keats St, Sandringham with a crowd of more than 100. Hocking Stuart was the agent and Stephen Tickell the auctioneer. Very interesting and entertaining auction with seven bidders! Opening bid of $1.4m and three strong bidders to start. Property went on the market at $1.6m which attracted another 4 bidders – one of whom kept telling Stephen he could – have a break -, while he conferred over the phone, much to the delight of the crowd. Especially when the bidder then got in his car and drove off after reaching his limit! The property sold for $1.78m, which Stephen later told another crowd at Fourth St, was nearly $250,000 over the reserve.

In that area 20 Orlando St Hampton sold before auction for an undisclosed but pretty much as expected result.

20 Orlando St Hampton - Julian Augustini of Hodges and Chris Bevan of JP Dixon

James Home Rating: 806 out of 1000. Great package – brilliant location (except for some at rear of shops is an issue), but close to beach, shops, train and everything including Brown Cow. The architect James Rigney has a well deserved excellent reputation and apart from no downstairs bedroom the floor plan is hard to fault and 3 bathrooms upstairs. Looks really well built and has a real northerly (the best) aspect for light. This will be hotly contested at auction and will probably go beyond simple land plus home values. I really like this as a new home and recommend that if you also do then you should go the extra mile and buy it. Overall package as good as it gets in Bayside for this type of home

James Control Price: Dirt $1,176,000 + House $1,100,000 = $2,276,000.

James Auction Report: Sold before hand.

Post Auction Result: As expected.

Moving northwards into Middle Park and Port Melbourne we saw two $4m plus sales.

19 Beach st through top end agents – Gerald Delany and Peter Kudelka of Kay and Burton in excess of $5m.

While on big numbers another heavyweight duo this time at Hocking Stuart – Andrew Stuart and John Holdsworth got the development site at 221 Beaconsfield Parade away

James Auction Report: Opening Bid of $3,800,000 and 3 bidders took it to a bought price of $4,600,000. 50 people.

Happy Wife Happy Life