Author; David

We love Zoom Auctions. So much so that we will keep doing them for many properties. I’ve called sixteen Zoom auctions since private inspections resumed and fifteen of them sold under the hammer with strong competition and lively bidding. The results are exactly the same as in-person Auctions. I haven’t come across one single buyer […]

There is an Edwardian single fronted home in Chomley Street, Prahran that sold in October 2020 for $1,435,000. The same property sold on Friday for $1,860,000. That’s a 30% price increase in exactly 12 months. The home had some minor cosmetic updates and presented better than last time, but essentially it’s the same house, same […]

This would have to be the most common question we are receiving from buyers and potential sellers right now. In fact, this is one of the perennial questions in real estate. In a strong market sellers are encouraged by the demand and high prices but also perturbed by the demand and high prices they will […]

[NB – There was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake near Melbourne on the day of writing] One of my colleagues had a final inspection this morning for a top floor apartment. The buyer was very concerned when the whole building started shaking. “Is this normal?” …Normal for an earthquake I guess. It certainly wasn’t his fault. […]

In some positive news last week we found out that private inspections will be allowed at vacant properties once Victoria gets to the 70% vaccination threshold, which they initially forecast for the 23rd September but it might even happen a few days earlier. We still don’t have clarity around occupied properties but a reasonable assumption […]

It turns out not even six lockdowns (now over 200 days) can hinder the roaring real estate market of Melbourne. In fact, it feels like these lockdowns are spurring things on by creating bottlenecks in an already tight supply environment and thereby compounding the demand pressure and buyer urgency that has been the undercurrent since […]

Real estate is like any other market for goods or commodities – when demand outstrips supply prices go up. When Cyclone Yasi devastated 75% of the north Queensland banana crop in 2011 banana prices rocketed to $15 a kilo. Bananarama smoothies were struck from café menus Australia wide and carrot cake sales eclipsed banana bread […]

In the middle of last year CBA wrote a report suggesting house prices in Australia could fall by 32 percent in a worst case scenario due to COVID and the economic fallout thereafter. The media had an absolute field day, taking the report out of context and splashing headlines such as “Property prices to plummet […]

Ascertaining value, or should I say, estimating value, is one of the hardest parts of our job. Valuing a property is an art, not a science. It would be far easier if it were more of a science. Zillow, the American online real estate marketplace, has based their business model on being able to accurately […]