You can think of downsizers as the ‘canary in the goldmine’ for the market.
They tend to be the first to drop off (not literally) when the market heads south or when supply dries up, like last year.
They also tend to be the last to re-emerge once conditions improve.
And that is understandable. They are a cautious bunch! What’s the rush?
When you’re selling your biggest asset you want the market conditions to be favourable.
Furthermore, downsizers tend to be fussy. They’ve lived in enough houses to know what they want and don’t want.
Usually they want brick, freestanding, north facing, single level (or master bedroom downstairs) and easy off street parking. Oh, and a short walk to shops and transport (and a hospital). And a nice quiet street. And no overlooking! And low maintenance. And…)
So what they really need is supply. Enough supply to entice them into the market and give them confidence that they will be able to find something if they sell.
Or if they buy first, enough confidence that their big family home will sell well.
On Saturday we had six bidders competing for a single level villa at 70a Stanhope Street, Malvern. It sold for nearly $300,000 over reserve. Most of the buyers were downsizers.
Looking at the number of quality family homes currently filtering onto the market in the $3,000,000 – 5,000,000 range, it certainly appears that many downsizers are finally taking the plunge and coming to market.
This is very welcome news for family home buyers who have been waiting for this type of stock for some time.
One such home starting with Team Fetter this week is 3 Glendearg Grove, Malvern ($3,950,000 – 4,300,000), a magnificently renovated double fronted Victorian on 644sqm.
Weekend Results (85% clearance rate from 433 scheduled auctions)
We had our first two auctions for the year on Saturday…
58 Moore Street, South Yarra sold well with two bidders and a substantial crowd (in the high $1,400,000’s) for an attractive two bed, one bath freestanding Victorian on 141sqm. (We even picked up some nice editorial with action shots of Stonnington’s favourite auctioneer).
4 Latrobe Street, Windsor sold under competition with two bidders in the early $1,500,000’s for a beautifully renovated two bed, one bath Edwardian on 170sqm.
All in all a strong start to 2021!
David Sciola 