The property market in Boroondara and Stonnington councils have had the lowest stock levels that I can remember, certainly in the first half of 2019.
This is due to the current market sentiment caused by negative press, the banking royal commission, and the federal election. In the prestige markets of Stonnington and Boroondara, the election was the biggest factor in my opinion. Now that the unknown is over and it was a positive result for property owners, plus the winter school holidays are finished, new listings are increasing week by week so there is now a nice balance of demand to stock. I expect stock levels to jump further as potential sellers watch the results over the next few weeks. The period between late October and Christmas I expect to be very busy.
Over the last 3 months, clearance rates have started to improve and are now averaging mid 70%’s which is a very healthy market. There were weeks in February and March where they were sitting in the 30-40% range for properties above $2 mill which is very low. There are more reported off-market sales starting to flow through and agents are reporting huge numbers of buyers attending opens and auctions.
Typically in a slow market, we see B-grade homes sitting unsold without much interest for months on end, but lately, they have been clearing due to the shortage of choice and the extra market confidence.
With these factors, I feel we will see solid growth in prices certainly over the next few months. That may ease later in the year with supply increasing and leveling demand.
I have seen some strong signs of this over the last couple of weeks. A corner block in The Avenue, Surry Hills with a quote around $2mill sold with 7 bidders for approx. $2.45M and a good Victorian in Russell St, Camberwell selling for approx. mid $3M’s. Both of these properties would have sold for 15%-20% less earlier in the year. I’m not saying the market has moved as a whole, or that we’ve bounced off the bottom, however, A-grade properties that are marketed well without any competing homes are starting to become very compelling for buyers.
The hottest market l am seeing currently is the $1.5M – $2.5M in the better areas of Stonnington and Boroondara around High St and Glenferrie Road.
We’ve been very active in the off-market space this past month in particular, picking up a number of homes in Malvern, Hawthorn, and Camberwell for clients without competition that were never advertised publicly.
If you’re looking to upgrade this Spring, we can help you with advisory on your sale and your re-entry into the market. Get in touch for a free chat and we’ll go through your best options in this type of market.
