Team Fetter/Sciola 2025 Wrap

2025 has been a big year. 

Humans returned to the moon – commercially this time. 

Taylor Swift got engaged. 

And Chat-GPT5 was released. (Chat suggested I mention that).

The Stonnington real estate market has been a bumpy ride but overall, a big improvement on 2024, which was the second toughest year in real estate in the last decade, after 2018. 

After cooling for three years from late 2021 to late 2024, the market finally turned a corner in 2025. 

We saw revived energy and competition in February and March. And again, in August and September, with hotly contested auctions being the norm rather than the exception.

Prices have crept up all year long – fractions of a percent each month. We’re talking maybe five percent for the year.

But the strong run seemed to grind to a halt in October through December, with interest rate chat going from more rate cuts imminent, to more rate cuts completely off the cards – and a potential rate hike in the New Year. 

Melbourne property continues to lag every other capital city except for Hobart. We’ve had a fraction of the growth of Perth and Brisbane in the last five years. 

In fact, we are finally looking like such great value compared to the smaller capital cities, that interstate investors are popping up all over Stonnington and snapping up property. 

I’ve sold single fronted homes to investors from Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane in the last six months. Most of them off market and represented by a buyer’s advocate. 

The recent slowdown can also be attributed to the time of year. 

Every year the market eases in November and December as demand slips and supply accumulates. 

But then as sure as day follows night, the market picks up in February and March after the summer break. 

My guess is that buyers will get over the recent interest rate pivot quite quickly and sentiment will improve next year. 

Melbourne has a lot of catching up to do, and in time we will return to our rightful place as the second most expensive city in Australia. 

Team Fetter/Sciola has capitalized on the improving market conditions and had our best calendar year ever. 

By the numbers:

127 sales

28 off market sales (previous record was 17)

Highest sale price – $7.75m

Average sale price – $2.4m

Total sales volume – $305m

Domain covers – 2

This makes us the second highest performing team in Stonnington in terms of sales volume. 

Our team is amazing. Carla and I have never enjoyed work so much. The team now consists of me and Carla, Duncan Fraser-Smith, Ashley Maikousis, Aylin Demir, and Sophie Blay. 

We are expanding the team next year to seven with an exciting new hire. 

“Super teams” are the way of the future in real estate. 

Bigger teams offer more resources to our clients – better service, more exposure to buyers, more buyer work, more experience, better auctioneers, more specialization. 

The lone wolf agent is a thing of the past. Too many hats to wear in a world of tech and compliance. 

The other big shift this year was more of a focus on social media. 

I’ve been skeptical in the past about social media as a tool for selling real estate. 

A bit like all the real estate awards – I thought it was more about ego and a chance for agents to show off to other agents rather than genuinely helping their clients. 

But with a bit of traction and some of my posts going viral and being viewed over a million times (like the Sir Roy Grounds house), I’ve seen some genuine buyer leads sneak through amid all the sticky beaking. 

We’ve generated many off-market inspections purely through Instagram posts this year. That’s a first for me. 

I’d encourage you to follow Carla and me on Instagram if you’re a voyeur for beautiful period homes and epic renovations. 

And my blog, which has an archive of dozens of timeless real estate articles, is gaining traction too. You can find the most read articles here. 

Thanks for your support this year – especially to our clients and customers. 

It’s a privilege to help so many people move house. It’s a big deal. 

We are very excited for 2026 and wish you a wonderful break over the Christmas and New Year period. 

These articles will recommence around Australia Day.