Because that’s the only COVID discount on offer at the moment across Melbourne, with median house prices down just 3.5% since April, according to the latest REIV data.
It’s funny though, given the hesitation of most buyers and sellers at the moment, you’d expect this number to be 35%, not 3.5%.
Prices are still up 6.1% compared to 12 months ago. So if you’re selling now you’re still likely to get a better result than if you had sold just one year ago.
Furthermore, some suburbs have recorded huge price gains this quarter. For example, the median house price in Elwood apparently went up 31% for the quarter. Woweee!
Sure, the quarterly suburb price change stats aren’t worth the pixels they are written on. They only require a minimum of 20 sales to validate the median price and I know for a fact Elwood has had a few big $5 – 8m transactions, which would have skewed the figures.
Still, given the Melbourne median house price figures, it is pretty clear that prices have not fallen substantially since COVID.
And period homes in Stonnington seem to be getting snapped up quickly and for full prices. Our average days on market as a company actually went down in April, May and June.
Speaking to other agents across our network, the consensus is that the current market is better and easier (to sell) than it was in 2018/2019. There are more buyers and there is more liquidity.
Getting owners to take the plunge and go on market our biggest challenge. Once they do, they are getting rewarded for taking the risk, with very few competing properties to dilute the active buyer pool.
There is no doubt that things could get more challenging. Headwinds are likely.
But if you’re hoping for a 10-20% discount on your next purchase in Stonnington you may be waiting a while…
David Sciola B.Com, BA (Media & Communications)
Sales Consultant, Auctioneer
P 9864 5000 | M 0408 598 242
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David Sciola 