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Social Proof
I called three auctions on Saturday. All sold. One had two bidders, one had four bidders and one had five bidders. And yet they all started exactly the same way, after a very energetic yet concise pre-amble… “Who’d like to kick things off with an opening bid?” Crickets. Why does no one ever want to…
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“Housing market finds a floor”
On Friday Jellis Craig hosted our inaugural Property Event for over 450 guests at The Glasshouse. Hosted by Melbourne-local Alicia Loxley, the morning of insights featured a line-up of notable speakers including Property Economist Tim Lawless and Demographer Bernard Salt. It was a fantastic event. Given my predilection towards numbers, graphs and statistics, (Carla calls…
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Top Three
It’s been a big week for Team Fetter/Sciola with five properties transacting in the last seven days and yet more accolades for our very own superstar agent, Carla Fetter. We sold three houses before auction (two of which in boardroom auctions with multiple bidders), one off market, and one under the hammer at a phenomenal…
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The Turnaround
I’ve often said that I’m not here to make predictions, only observations. So I’m somewhat hesitant to suggest that the market is about to take off again for certain, but I do believe we have enough evidence now that the market has bottomed out and is already some months into an upturn. Yesterday’s rate hike…
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Jellis Craig First – Better Than Off Market
The term ‘off market’ is bandied around a lot. I define an ‘off market’ as simply a property for sale that has not yet been advertised on the major portals (REA, Domain, etc). If executed well, an off market sale can result in an efficient, expedient and transparent transaction with minimal cost and risk to…
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Disconnect
There seems to be a disconnect between the current perception and the current reality of the real estate market. Our perception is greatly influenced by the media and our own expectations or predications of what the future may hold. And given the uncertainty and chaos of the modern world, and strong bias towards negativity and…
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Q1 Recap
Happy Easter! Team Fetter/Sciola is back to it after a short but very pleasant break. We are most excited to have a full schedule of auction campaigns for May, with five terrific homes hitting the market this week. Q1 of 2023 is now done and dusted, and it felt like a much more positive and…
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Price, price, price
I cringe every time I hear an auctioneer utter the words, ‘location, location, location.’ If location was really the biggest driving factor determining interest in a property, then 90 percent of homes wouldn’t sell. Houses sell in Brighton, The Bronx and Beirut. Houses sell next to freeways, high tension power lines and hospitals. You can…
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Finalists
It’s not really our style to blow our own trumpets here at Team Fetter/Sciola… Carla has tossed out most of her ‘Agent of the Year’ trophies that were cluttering up her desk. BUT, it is nice to receive some recognition once in a while. Realestate.com.au just released the AREA finalists for residential agent of the year 2022 and…
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My take on the current market
Hopefully you enjoyed a quiet and sunny long weekend as Melbourne gently kisses summer farewell and we shove the beach towels in the back of the cupboard and pull out the footy scarves for round one. There was no auction activity to report over the long weekend, but we are now looking forward to three…
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Have we already seen the bottom?
They say the darkest hour of night is just before dawn. After 10 consecutive interest rate hikes in 10 months, are we finally seeing some daylight, at least when it comes to certainty around borrowing costs? Should we just round it off to four percent and call it a day? Historically, a four percent cash…
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Gaining Momentum
Each week in February saw an increase in new listings and auction results, with Saturday being the biggest test of the 2023 market so far. So far, so good. Clearance remains very resilient. Buoyant even. A snapshot from Saturday: Jellis Craig reported 79 percent clearance from 107 auctions. The REIV reported 75 percent clearance from 780…
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Feb Pep
Late February is always the first litmus test of the new year market. Saturday was our first proper auction weekend of 2023, with 83 homes going under hammer across the Jellis Craig network. I was surprised, pleasantly, when the results emailed popped up in my inbox on Saturday afternoon. Our clearance rate was a very…
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Under promise, over deliver
We are fortunate to work in such an affluent, established, and sophisticated real estate market as Stonnington. Our clients are well educated, savvy, have excellent market knowledge, and most have experience buying and selling. Likewise, the calibre of real estate agents in Stonnington is amongst the highest in Australia, if not the world. The stakes…
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Crystal Ball
As agents and ‘trusted advisors’, people seek our advice to help them make better decisions around buying and selling real estate. Some topics are easy to give advice on – presentation, advertising, sales method, strategy, etc. Other topics are not so easy – like timing – because this is largely outside of our control. People…
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Big Numbers
We had 37 groups inspect 2 Oak Grove, Malvern East on Saturday – a fully renovated family home on 740sqm with a pool. Around the corner, 47 groups inspected a contemporary three-bedroom townhouse on Darling Road. Big numbers! We always see a spike in inspection numbers in the first few weeks following Australia Day. The…
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New Year, New Market?
Welcome back to our first New Listings email of 2023! For those loyal readers who tune in every week, we really appreciate your support. For those new subscribers, hopefully you find some value in my weekly ruminations, insights, and observations on the Stonnington property market. Given my media and communications background, the corporate office has…
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2 Oak Grove, Malvern East
$3,000,000 – $3,300,000 Bespoke family luxury in exclusive Malvern East pocket In a coveted Malvern East address, this architectural masterpiece blends timeless c1931 Art Deco grandeur with a sweeping contemporary transformation, delivering a bespoke designer oasis zoned for modern family living across two levels. Grandiose proportions from its period origins are doubled throughout this premium…
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David Sciola 