Melbourne Property Insights Archive | James Buyer Advocates

Last Thursday.
Three homes.
About $17 million worth of property.
And three very same but different (Aldi) lessons for buyers.

Executive Summary

The Melbourne top-end market has shifted—four up periods in 2025.

Prices have improved, but not exploded.

Sellers who price correctly are attracting real interest.

Today’s headline clearance rate (55%) is misleading without context.

Properties that attracted at least one bidder had a 75% chance of selling.

Whether you’re buying or selling, the best decisions come from real information.
This entire article is on Growth. Hopefully you will grow, even if your home hasn’t to the level you wanted in the last decade.
This article is raw and confronting, but 100% factual. Of course property is 100% emotional – but I suggest read it and move forward with better decisions, whether you’re a buyer or a seller.
When you stop chasing yesterday and start working with today, life improves.

Whether you’re buying or selling, the best decisions come from real information.
This entire article is on Growth. Hopefully you will grow, even if your home hasn’t to the level you wanted in the last decade.
This article is raw and confronting, but 100% factual. Of course property is 100% emotional – but I suggest read it and move forward with better decisions, whether you’re a buyer or a seller.
When you stop chasing yesterday and start working with today, life improves.

How is the Melbourne Auction Market in 2026

“Nobody Ever Got Fired For Running An EOI – Expression of Interest”

“Nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM” was code for this. Pick the big, established name and you protect yourself. If the project falls over, you blame the brand. You were “safe.” You did what everyone else did. That thinking is now alive and well in high end Melbourne real estate. Only the badge has changed. Today, the safe corporate logo has been replaced by the big-brand agency and the three letters E O I.

Year In Review / Start or 2026 Summer Edition

“Nobody Ever Got Fired For Running An EOI – Expression of Interest”

“Nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM” was code for this. Pick the big, established name and you protect yourself. If the project falls over, you blame the brand. You were “safe.” You did what everyone else did. That thinking is now alive and well in high end Melbourne real estate. Only the badge has changed. Today, the safe corporate logo has been replaced by the big-brand agency and the three letters E O I.

Twenty+ Ratings, Thirty Visits
We rated and visited 20 plus on market homes in the last 7 days (see below) – plus a handful of off-markets (not listed publicly, but available to clients). The response to the public ratings continues to grow-and that’s affirming. Why? Because the work matters. Not the likes. The work.
You can have the best marketing plan in the world, the slickest strategy, the cleverest scripts- but if you’re not walking the streets, knocking on the quiet doors, and thinking deeply about what’s really there… you’re just shooting the breeze.

A Question of Fairness: Underquoting, Young Agents, and the Need for Context
Let me be absolutely clear from the outset: I oppose underquoting.