There can be no doubt that ongoing concerns about the health of the global economy are having an impact on the confidence of buyers in the Melbourne auction market.

There have been a total of 628 auctions reported of which 335 sold and 293 were passed in, 195 of those on a vendors bid.

Next weekend there are only 50 auctions, less than half of those on Saturday. No clearance rate will be issued.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 628
Last week: 639
This time last year: 65

S Sold at Auction: 275
SB Sold before Auction: 58
SA Sold after Auction: 2

Passed in: 293
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 195

Clearance rate: 53%

Postponed: 4
Withdrawn: 6
Auctions with no result: 84

PS Private Sales: 505

PS Private Sales: 504

Total Volume (Auctions): $232.54mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $226.67mil

Total Auctions Houses: 395
Clearance Rate: 54%
Median Price: $712,000
Total Value: $170,222,300

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 218
Clearance Rate: 54%
Median Price: $487,500
Total Value: $61,016,250

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 13
Clearance Rate: 23%
Median Price: $290,000
Total Value: $1,304,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 2 Rosedale Road, Glen Iris $2,120,000
2. 113 Yarrbat Avenue, Balwyn $1,992,500
3. 28 Service Street, Hampton $1,825,000
4. 19 Brighton Street, Sandringham $1,750,000
5. 31 Lambeth Avenue, Armadale $1,540,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 96 Oakwood Road, Albanvale $306,000
2. 158 Ninth Avenue, Rosebud $308,000
3. 38 The Avenue, Ferntree Gully $337,250
4. 6 McInnes Close, Sunbury $338,000
5. 22-24 Jones Avenue, Upper Ferntree Gully $339,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 5/692 Orrong Road, Toorak $1,155,000
2. 8 Birch Square, Richmond $1,095,000
3. 37B George Street, Bentleigh East $1,061,500
4. 119 Ross Street, Port Melbourne $995,000
5. 1-4/11 Embankment Grove, Chelsea $935,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 26/15 Hawthorn Road, Caulfield North $119,000
2. 4/283 Nepean Highway, Seaford $257,000
3. 4/16 Jolley Street, Brunswick West $281,500
4. 5/13 Woodbine Grove, Chelsea $283,000
5. 4/772 Plenty Road, Reservoir $302,000

SOURCE: REIV

So far this year just over 11,500 homes have sold at auction. This is less than 2010, 2008 and 2007 but more than in either 2009 or 2006.

A total of 593 auctions were reported of which 338 sold and 255 were passed in, 173 of those on a vendors bid.

There is an increase in the number of auctions next weekend to 740 before a reduction for the AFL Grand Final.

All of Victoria will receive Melbourne Property TV from Monday. For those in Melbourne and Geelong it is on Ch31 (digital 44) and outside of those areas it will be on Channel 4 (digital 64).

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 593
Last week: 616
This time last year: 754

S Sold at Auction: 284
SB Sold before Auction: 51
SA Sold after Auction: 3

Passed in: 255
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 173

Clearance rate: 57%

Postponed: 3
Withdrawn: 3
Auctions with no result: 62

PS Private Sales: 556

Total Volume (Auctions): $253.28mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $261.79mil

Total Auctions Houses: 360
Clearance Rate: 55%
Median Price: $747,450
Total Value: $174,858,450

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 221
Clearance Rate: 62%
Median Price: $537,000
Total Value: $77,168,599

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 11
Clearance Rate: 45%
Median Price: $293,000
Total Value: $1,248,500

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 3 Gardiner Road, Hawthorn $3,580,500
2. 41 Densham Road, Armadale $2,115,000
3. 4 Stevenson Street, Kew $2,100,000
4. 535-539 Pascoe Vale Road, Pascoe Vale $2,000,000
5. 36 Matlock Street, Canterbury $1,860,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 11 Hillman Street, Laverton $272,000
2. 6 Walnut Way, Pakenham $295,000
3. 2/18 Baird Street, Maidstone $296,000
4. 1/190 Hilton Street, Glenroy $320,000
5. 10 Yootha Court, Rye $328,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 3/19 Willis Street, Armadale $1,160,000
2. 26/49 Head Street, Brighton $1,117,000
3. 3/211 Beach Road, Mordialloc $1,025,000
4. 56 Chestnut Street, Cremorne $1,021,000
5. 5 Balmoral Place, South Yarra $980,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 7/211 Williams Road, South Yarra $275,500
2. 6/27 Ormond Road, West Footscray $280,000
3. 1/58 Gillies Street, Fairfield $287,000
4. 28B Tarcoola Avenue, Meadow Heights $290,000
5. 5/459 Waterdale Road, Heidelberg West $300,000

SOURCE: REIV

So far this year just over 11,500 homes have sold at auction. This is less than 2010, 2008 and 2007 but more than in either 2009 or 2006.

A total of 540 auctions were reported of which 306 sold and 234 were passed in, 159 of those on a vendors bid.

There is an increase in the number of auctions next weekend to 740 before a reduction for the AFL Grand Final.

All of Victoria will receive Melbourne Property TV from Monday. For those in Melbourne and Geelong it is on Ch31 (digital 44) and outside of those areas it will be on Channel 4 (digital 64).

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 540
Last week: 600
This time last year: 718

S Sold at Auction: 257
SB Sold before Auction: 48
SA Sold after Auction: 1

Passed in: 234
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 159

Clearance rate: 57%

Postponed: 1
Withdrawn: 0
Auctions with no result: 86

PS Private Sales: 555

Total Volume (Auctions): $228.96mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $261.39mil

Total Auctions Houses: 333
Clearance Rate: 54%
Median Price: $730,000
Total Value: $158,870,950

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 196
Clearance Rate: 61%
Median Price: $536,000
Total Value: $68,836,500

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 10
Clearance Rate: 50%
Median Price: $293,000
Total Value: $1,248,500

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 3 Gardiner Road, Hawthorn $3,580,500
2. 41 Densham Road, Armadale $2,115,000
3. 4 Stevenson Street, Kew $2,100,000
4. 535-539 Pascoe Vale Road, Pascoe Vale $2,000,000
5. 36 Matlock Street, Canterbury $1,860,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 11 Hillman Street, Laverton $272,000
2. 6 Walnut Way, Pakenham $295,000
3. 2/18 Baird Street, Maidstone $296,000
4. 1/190 Hilton Street, Glenroy $320,000
5. 51 Rain Lover Drive, Kurunjang $330,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 3/19 Willis Street, Armadale $1,160,000
2. 26/49 Head Street, Brighton $1,117,000
3. 3/211 Beach Road, Mordialloc $1,025,000
4. 56 Chestnut Street, Cremorne $1,021,000
5. 10 Wales Street, Hampton $960,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 7/211 Williams Road, South Yarra $275,500
2. 6/27 Ormond Road, West Footscray $280,000
3. 28B Tarcoola Avenue, Meadow Heights $290,000
4. 5/459 Waterdale Road, Heidelberg West $300,000
5. 1/8 Kingsfield Crescent, Lynbrook $314,000

Source: REIV

Five finalists have been named to compete to create the best design for a zero-carbon house in Adelaide.

The Land Management Corporation is holding the competition at its ‘green village’, Lochiel Park, at Campbelltown.

The challenge is to design a sustainable three bedroom home for a maximum cost of $300,000.

The winning design will be built on Lot 61 at Lochiel Park, the objective to represent a showcase an industry benchmark of energy-efficient, environmental standards.

The Zero Carbon Challenge, launched in June 2011 by LMC and the State Government’s Integrated Design Commission (IDC), aims to encourage industry to be innovative in designing and constructing a home with minimal environmental impact over its projected lifetime of about 50 years.

Land Management Corporation chief executive Wayne Gibbings said the Zero Carbon Challenge had drawn a strong response from the architecture, development and construction sectors.

“The number of submissions and the strength of the individual teams are outstanding,” Gibbings said.

South Australian Government Architect Benjamin Hewett said the design phase would create the opportunity to push the limits on the latest techniques in sustainable and affordable building and congratulated IDC and LMC on staging the competition.

“This is an important initiative that recognises opportunities of collaboration across skills and disciplines to achieve best-practice outcomes,” Hewett said.

The State’s Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon said: “The winning team will be faced with providing a house which minimises embodied and operating energy, and the lessons learned along the way will provide valuable insight into improving the affordability and environmental credentials of Adelaide homes well into the future.

“It is exciting for us as a State Government that one of these innovative designs will eventually be built at Lochiel Park, which will enhance the development’s position as being a leader in sustainable housing in South Australia.”

Existing homes in Lochiel Park are all fitted with photovoltaic solar cells and, in addition to normal utilities, serviced by a non-potable water system.

The Zero Carbon Challenge organisers expect the competition will push the boundaries of established construction practice.

The finalist teams – each as a minimum made up of architects, licensed builders and a student – include the following members:

Team VIM: Buzz Architecture; Scholz Vinall Design; Scott Salisbury Group / AREA Construction; JDR#1; and Connor Holmes; Exhibition studios; Dr Terry Williamson – Adelaide University; Jonathan Muecke; Vanessa Menadue; and Lyrian Daniel.

Collaborative Future: Cundall; TS4 Architecture; Holdfast Construction; Eco Active; Urban Sustainable Landscapes; MLEI; WT Partnership; Acdev; Ken Long; and Brock Urban Projects.

Energy Aspect Living: Energy Aspect Living; Bateup Urban Design; Alex Heath; RCI Consulting Engineers; and Bateup Visual Graphics.

Sekisui House Services SA: All required expertise from in-house.

Swanbury Penglase: Swanbury Penglase; Arup; Stephen Robert Berry; Rossdale Homes; and UniSA’s Dr Frank Bruno.

The finalists will be offered $10,000 to help cover the cost of preparing their final design / documentation.

The next stage of the competition, to be conducted through September and early October, will involve the five teams taking their initial concepts through to detailed design, costing and calculation of embodied and operating energy.

The winning team will also be required to work with a carbon verification consultant to assess their design in accordance with the Federal Government’s national carbon offset standard.

This will independently verify the carbon performance of the house over its projected life.

This verification will then be submitted to the Federal Government for certification.

For further information about the Zero Carbon Challenge go to

www.lmc.sa.gov.au/zerocarbonchallenge or  www.facebook.com/zerocarbonchallenge.

The Integrated Design Commission SA has a broad remit in all matters relating to multi-disciplinary design and the built environment, including planning, infrastructure, transport and energy, urban ecology and landscape; and industrial and product design.

Source: architectureanddesign.com.au

Increased stock levels this weekend have resulted in conditions more favorable to buyers, a trend likely to continue into spring.

There were a total of 503 auctions this weekend of which 276 sold and 227 were passed in, 159 of those on a vendors bid.

For the first weekend of spring the REIV is expecting 530 auctions.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 503
Last week: 473
This time last year: 728

S Sold at Auction: 238
SB Sold before Auction: 38
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 227
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 159

Clearance rate: 55%

Postponed: 2

Withdrawn: 2
Auctions with no result: 82

PS Private Sales: 500

Total Volume (Auctions): $212.42mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $236.38mil

Total Auctions Houses: 326
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $720,000
Total Value: $158,025,300

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 169
Clearance Rate: 53%
Median Price: $520,250
Total Value: $53,285,400

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 7
Clearance Rate: 29%
Median Price: $555,000
Total Value: $1,110,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 25 Kent Avenue, Brighton $6,400,000
2. 1 Panther Place, Fairfield $2,875,000
3. 8-10 Kinkora Road, Hawthorn $2,020,000
4. 25 Marriage Road, Brighton East $1,960,000
5. 16 Electra Street, Williamstown $1,820,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 3 Lavington Court, Craigieburn $305,000
2. 118 Brights Drive, Rye $310,000
3. 9 Ormond Rise, Roxburgh Park $320,000
4. 44 Flinders Park Drive, Officer $325,000
5. 57 Hamilton Road, Bayswater North $340,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 2/52 Alfred Street, Kew $1,738,000
2. 132 Princes Street, Port Melbourne $1,300,000
3. 104A Wheatley Road, Mckinnon $1,270,000
4. 56 Sussex Street, Brighton $917,000
5. 3/2 Vautier Street, Elwood $913,500

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 2/13 Tattenham Street, Caulfield East $316,500
2. 10/87-89 Mitchell Street, Bentleigh $317,000
3. 9 Val Court, Dandenong $321,500
4. 6/22 Warrabel Road, Ferntree Gully $322,500
5. 4/38 Shepparson Avenue, Carnegie $330,000

Source: REIV

The people’s choice award goes to…

Rod and Tania who won a Toyota Corolla after being deemed the favourites in the people’s choice award. In an even more magnanimous gesture Toyota announced they would sell another Corolla on eBay, with the proceeds going to the Melanoma Institute of Australia.

An engaging surprise

Before the first auction Josh stunned everyone when he produced a tiny case and handed it to a wide-eyed Jenna. He proposed to her on national television and the crowd went berserk. Thunderous cheering could have brought the roof down.

The final judgement brings high drama

Josh and Jenna

The first property under the gavel was Jenna and Josh’s, and things got off to a shaky start. Their auctioneer asked for an opening bid of $900k and a call came back: “$750k.” Things didn’t improve and the property was eventually handed in — a stinging blow for the young couple.

Polly and Waz

Next up Polly and Waz faced the buyers’ scrutiny. After an initial bid of $700k the numbers gradually crept upwards. Riotous applause was heard when the $800k threshold was crossed and after $840k the house was officially on the market. The word “sold!” finally rang out at $855k.

Katrina and Amie

Bidding on Katrina and Amie’s house got off at a cracking pace and quickly passed $800k — then ground to a halt. Despite the best efforts of their agent, bids didn’t rise above $822k and the property was passed in. The sisters were bitterly disappointed.

Rod and Tania

Rod and Tania’s was considered by many to be the dark horse that could surprise and the crowd cheered when their auctioneer began, speaking at a dizzying pace. Bids rose in steady $10k jumps — then, in another shocking surprise, things stalled at $832k. Sadly, their property was also passed in.

The winners

Polly and Waz, the couple who began the series with the least renovation experience, took out the major prize — in addition to their profit above the reserve, $15k, they also walked away with $100k in prize money.

To say the others were disappointed is an understatement. But Rod remained philosophical and he was genuinely happy for the winning couple: “Look, that’s just the way things happen. I’m really proud of Waz. He just soaked up the experience and learnt so much. He never complained or caused trouble. He just got on with the job. Well done.”

What a gobsmacking end to a fascinating series. That’s it for 2011 — but watch this space for The Block 2012!

Source: scottbanks.com.au

This weekends result is consistent with the past three months in which the monthly clearance rate has been 55 per cent.

There were a total of 436 auction results reported this weekend of which 260 sold and 176 were passed in, 114 of those on a vendors bid.

There will be a small lift in stock next weekend with 615 auctions expected.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 436

Last week: 465

This time last year: 352

S Sold at Auction: 220
SB Sold before Auction: 40
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 176
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 114

Clearance rate: 60%

Postponed: 0
Withdrawn: 1
Auctions with no result: 73

PS Private Sales: 512

Total Volume (Auctions): $203.94mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $226.99mil

Total Auctions Houses: 304
Clearance Rate: 62%
Median Price: $760,000
Total Value: $159,399,018

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 124
Clearance Rate: 55%
Median Price: $511,250
Total Value: $40,635,000

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 6
Clearance Rate: 67%
Median Price: $489,250
Total Value: $2,296,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 9 Salisbury Street, Balwyn $6,620,000
2. 30 Mangarra Road, Canterbury $3,210,000
3. 74 Simpson Street, East Melbourne $2,200,000
4. 11 Bolinda Road, Balwyn North $1,838,000
5. 138 Thomas Street, Hampton $1,800,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 8/2-10 Creekwood Drive, Craigieburn $310,000
2. 26 Millbank Drive, Deer Park $326,000
3. 18 Maywood Drive, Epping $336,000
4. 47 Arnold Street, Noble Park $336,000
5. 6 Musselburgh Court, Frankston $337,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 94 Bridport Street, Albert Park $2,550,000
2. 73 Bluff Road, Black Rock $1,400,000
3. 152A Somerset Street, Richmond $1,320,000
4. 21 Little Elgin Street, Carlton $1,290,000
5. 1/53 Hosken Street, Balwyn North $1,180,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 4/11 Henry Street, St Albans $247,000
2. 5/264 Melrose Drive, Tullamarine $297,000
3. 4/73 Collins Street, Thornbury $321,000
4. 1/19 Belvedere Close, Maribyrnong $337,500
5. 1/13 Wilana Street, Ringwood $345,000

Source: REIV

This weekend the clearance rate is 57 per cent compared to 54 per cent last weekend and 67 per cent this time last year.

Those looking to sell their home over spring will be hoping that speculation of an interest rate cut last week becomes a reality as it would boost buyer confidence just at the right time.

There was a total of 431 auctions reported this weekend, of which 244 sold and 187 were passed in, 123 of those on a vendors bid.

Next weekend the REIV expects around 490 auctions.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 431
Last week: 495
This time last year: 596

S Sold at Auction: 212
SB Sold before Auction: 32
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 187
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 123

Clearance rate: 57%

Postponed: 0
Withdrawn: 2
Auctions with no result: 51

PS Private Sales: 546

Total Volume (Auctions): $182.51mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $265.62mil

Total Auctions Houses: 277
Clearance Rate: 59%
Median Price: $735,500
Total Value: $141,876,388

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 144
Clearance Rate: 53%
Median Price: $478,500
Total Value: $39,619,500

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 9
Clearance Rate: 44%
Median Price: $184,500
Total Value: $1,019,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 49 Sackville Street, Kew $4,310,000
2. 87 Broadway, Camberwell $3,795,250
3. 4 Glan Avon Road, Hawthorn $2,815,000
4. 72 Union Road, Surrey Hills $2,075,000
5. 3-5 Washington Street, Essendon $1,555,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 21 Jacana Avenue, Frankston $235,000
2. 5 Statesman Crescent, Mill Park $300,000
3. 11 Cobblestone Avenue, Narre Warren $320,000
4. 3 Niblick Street, Rye $352,000
5. 17 Burniston Avenue, Craigieburn $357,500

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 38 Whyte Street, Brighton $1,710,000
2. 802/155 Beach Street, Port Melbourne $1,245,000
3. 18A Durban Street, Bentleigh $1,000,000
4. 3/471 High Street, Kew $970,000
5. 10A Swyer Street, Hampton $946,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 19/11 Findon Street, Hawthorn $217,500
2. 4/7 Empire Street, Footscray $278,000
3. 4/69 Spring Road, Springvale South $283,000
4. 21/102 St Georges Road, Preston $298,000
5. 9/29 Eldridge Street, Footscray $310,000

Source: REIV

The falls recorded in the stock market do not appear to have impacted the residential auction market.

There were 414 auctions reported this weekend of which 238 sold and 176 were passed in, 123 of those on a vendors bid.

With just under 500 auctions scheduled next weekend a similar result is expected.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 414
Last week: 564
This time last year: 517

S Sold at Auction: 201
SB Sold before Auction: 36
SA Sold after Auction: 1

Passed in: 176
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 123

Clearance rate: 57%

Postponed: 3
Withdrawn: 2
Auctions with no result: 95

PS Private Sales: 473

Total Volume (Auctions): $166.12mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $225.25mil

Total Auctions Houses: 257
Clearance Rate: 58%
Median Price: $658,500
Total Value: $113,221,315

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 136
Clearance Rate: 57%
Median Price: $550,000
Total Value: $46,775,550

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 20
Clearance Rate: 60%
Median Price: $462,500
Total Value: $5,882,100

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 80 South Road, Brighton $3,000,000
2. 11 Immarna Road, Camberwell $2,490,000
3. 6 Henham Street, Hawthorn East $2,050,000
4. 10 Glassford Street, Armadale $1,700,000
5. 12 Strathconnan Place, Wheelers Hill $1,500,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 6 Hoylake Court, Sunbury $275,000
2. 5 Flake Court, Diggers Rest $330,100
3. 45 Chelsey Street, Ardeer $342,000
4. 14 Tenterden Place, Mill Park $352,000
5. 11 Kings Road, Emerald $359,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 9/297 Dorcas Street, South Melbourne $1,320,000
2. 46 Bridge Street, Hampton $1,110,000
3. 2/6 Kardella Street, Malvern East $910,000
4. 1/18 Kennedy Street, Glen Waverley $830,000
5. 6 Aberdeen Road, Prahran $825,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 3/9 Harris Street, Springvale $330,000
2. 3/49 Wattle Grove, Mulgrave $330,000
3. 9/338 Bay Road, Cheltenham $340,000
4. 4/49 Vermont Parade, Greensborough $350,000
5. 2/40 Scott Grove, Kingsbury $355,000

Source: REIV

This week: 581
Last week: 486
This time last year: 602

S Sold at Auction: 269
SB Sold before Auction: 64
SA Sold after Auction: 1

Passed in: 247
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 150

Clearance rate: 57%

Postponed: 1
Withdrawn: 2
Auctions with no result: 7

PS Private Sales: 503

Total Volume (Auctions): $226.44mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $248.81mil

Total Auctions Houses: 366
Clearance Rate: 60%
Median Price: $706,000
Total Value: $166,384,550

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 201
Clearance Rate: 54%
Median Price: $480,000
Total Value: $54,590,488

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 12
Clearance Rate: 42%
Median Price: $620,000
Total Value: $3,950,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 94 Page Street, Albert Park $2,500,000
2. 20 Barrett Street, Albert Park $2,200,000
3. 35 Grove Road, Hawthorn $1,950,000
4. 28 Montclair Avenue, Brighton $1,820,000
5. 118 Cochrane Street, Brighton $1,740,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 28 Coolgardie Street, Frankston North $265,000
2. 41 Lakewood Boulevard, Melton $275,000
3. 6 Mcnicol Road, Tecoma $280,000
4. 24 Carrington Avenue, Seaford $310,000
5. 16 Jacaranda Drive, Mill Park $335,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 5/422-426 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong $1,215,500
2. 2/35 Robinson Road, Hawthorn $1,180,000
3. 303 Wattletree Road, Malvern East $1,080,000
4. 1/29 Angus Drive, Glen Waverley $950,000
5. 209 Langridge Street, Abbotsford $840,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 512/200 Ballarat Road, Footscray $156,000
2. 1/84 Conrad Street, St Albans $225,000
3. 7/128 Inkerman Street, St Kilda $273,000
4. 14/470 Punt Road, South Yarra $301,000
5. 2/6 Landale Avenue, Croydon $305,000

Source: REIV

An 11-metre tall house with an insulated steel roof and an easy-to-hose ground floor may be the future of homes in Queensland’s flood-prone areas.

The design is one of the suggestions in a report on the January floods issued by the state’s chief scientist yesterday.

Dr Geoff Garrett’s Understanding Floods: Questions and Answers report was commissioned to provide scientific and engineering views on floods in general, to support the Queensland Floods of Inquiry.

One section on the future of floods asked how urban design might better cope with reducing the impact of floods in cities in and towns.

It includes a design by Brisbane architect Michael Rayner for a tri-level Queenslander-style home.

The ground floor, made from concrete and tiles, would be easy to clean after a flood, the design states, while the top floor would be a dry storage area for belongings during a flood.

The middle floor has external walls that open out to allow for easier cleaning after a flood and for ventilation.

Mr Rayner created the concept after his own him, in Brisbane’s West End, was flooded in January.

The report’s recommendations will now go to the flood inquiry.

One of the report’s co-authors, Tony McAlister of private consulting engineers BMT WBM, said the house style suited small lots in flood-prone areas.

“That housing concept is fine provided that if there is a flood event, the people can get out,” Mr McAlister said.

“If they decide to stay with the house you need to make sure that the velocity of the waters going under the house are not excessive.”

Mr McAlister said the design offered the homeowner the choice of staying during a flood.

“Residents can say I am willing to accept that I am going to be flooded every 25 years or 50 years, but I am going to have a house that is more robust, where I am not going to have to gut it every time it floods,” he said.

He said another option was government-funded house-raising in flood-affected areas, something that had already been trialled at Taree in New South Wales.

”One of the elements of the toolkit in flood-plain management is house-raising,” Mr McAlister said.

“There was a flood plain management study done where the resolution that was deemed to be the best recommendation was to go in and actually raise the houses [in Taree],” he said.

“That way you were actually taking the houses out of the flood level.

“In those circumstances it was paid for by the local government [who] went in and raised the houses.”

Brisbane City Council explored that option after the January floods but instead introduced a buyback scheme, with $10 million included in this year’s budget to buy flood-damaged homes.

By June, 48 homes had been bought, while another 36 flood-affected homes were being assessed.

The council also relaxed the maximum heights for houses in flooded areas from 8.5 metres to 9.5 metres, with assessments based on a case-by-case basis.

Tony McAlister said levees – recently discussed by Brisbane City Council as suitable for areas of Rocklea – was also a viable option for some flood-prone areas.

He said the city of Lismore was an example where a metre-high levee bank protected a previously flood-prone area.

“In the case of Lismore it virtually flooded every five years,” Mr McAlister said.

“What we are doing is taking a situation where it flooded every five years to a situation where it floods maybe every 20 or 50 years.

“Making a major reduiction in the damage and the social impact and that sort of thing.”

Source: theagedomain.com.au

Creating space for his twin passions inspired a builder transforming his ’60s house.

Mark Burton seriously appreciates art. However, there are not many aficionados who have the chance to design a house around their collection.

When the Brighton builder and developer decided to transform a tired-looking 1960s suburban brick house with a ’70s extension in Yuille Street into a glittering six-bedroom home for his family, that’s exactly what he did.

He made sure there was plenty of prime wall space for his Charles Blackman, Kenneth Jack and Pro Hart along with the work of his artist wife Jenine and others.

But Mr Burton went even further, designing an eye-catching vaulted entrance that ”framed” one of his most prized pieces: a Reinis Zusters oil painting of Newcastle Harbour.

”When lit, you can see the painting as you come down the driveway at night,” he says.

While Mr Burton’s art took pride of place in his plans, the house wasn’t all about his collection. Just as important was creating a zoned home for his family.

”The idea was to keep the building simple, very modern and functional, without overcapitalising,” Mr Burton says. A wise decision, he adds, in the wake of the global financial crisis and one not so well heeded by other developments in the area.

This meant using modern materials, such as polystyrene wall panels, and maintaining, where possible, existing structures. The hallway walls, for instance, were retained.

The wall-to-wall handmade hardwood truss-roof was also kept, which enabled the outer fabric of the property to be preserved.

Internally, though, it was like working with a clean slate. The house was restumped, rewired, replastered and replumbed and expanded by about 186 square metres.

”We really had an open floor plan,” Mr Burton says. ”We removed the plaster, moved some walls, realigned

sections to make a modern house inside an old shell.”

Entering via the widened exposed aggregate driveway – between a renovated 1920s house and a tennis court, which sit on separate titles also bought by Mr Burton in 2006 – you see only a new building.

Once through the vaulted entrance, left takes you to three of the bedrooms, each with their own bathroom (Mr Burton uses the one nearest the front door as his office), and a three-car garage, leading to a private courtyard.

The second bedroom has an open study area and the third opens to a backyard with an in-ground trampoline and pond.

Immediately right, as you enter, is another bedroom and a generous laundry, flowing to an open-plan kitchen (with its own coffee station), family and dining area.

Here, the family-room wall, facing the solar-heated pool, has been extended to create a flow-through to a morning room in one direction and a large rumpus room and gym (or possible sixth bedroom) with en suite in the other. But in the main living area, too, part of the original structure was pulled back to create a deck for the family to relax by the pool.

Upstairs, two former bedrooms and a sitting area have become the main bedroom, with his and hers walk-in wardrobes and a large en suite.

Another passion of Mr Burton’s is wine. And just like his art, he designed his new property to house and showcase an impressive wine collection (including a 1954 Grange), building a 4.4-metre by 4.5-metre temperature-controlled cellar beneath the living room.

There is enough racking for 140-dozen bottles and space for a table and chairs. ”We have hosted dinner parties down here,” he says.

Mr Burton also made sure to include all the other mod cons usually found in new properties, such as zoned airconditioning, a ducted vacuum system, video alarm and intercoms and Miele appliances, as well as 25,000-litre underground water storage.

Source: theagedomain.com.au

The clearance rate this weekend is 59 per cent compared to 55 per cent last weekend and 66 per cent this weekend last year.

An increase in listings is expected in spring and those vendors looking to sell at auction will welcome the small improvement in demand this weekend.

There was a total of 421 auctions reported of which 249 sold and 172 were passed in, 110 of those on a vendors bid.

The REIV expects around 585 auctions next weekend.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 421
Last week: 392
This time last year: 587

S Sold at Auction: 197
SB Sold before Auction: 52
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 172
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 110

Clearance rate: 59%

Postponed: 3
Withdrawn: 0
Auctions with no result: 63

PS Private Sales: 472

Total Volume (Auctions): $171.99mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $222.31mil

Total Auctions Houses: 249
Clearance Rate: 60%
Median Price: $700,000
Total Value: $117,224,700

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 161
Clearance Rate: 58%
Median Price: $532,000
Total Value: $53,170,100

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 11
Clearance Rate: 55%
Median Price: $300,000
Total Value: $1,600,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 105 Hambleton Street, Middle Park $2,250,000
2. 403 George Street, Fitzroy $1,750,000
3. 59 Lavender Park Road, Eltham $1,750,000
4. 6 Bellavista Road, Glen Iris $1,390,000
5. 106 Grandview Road, Wheelers Hill $1,310,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 109 York Road, Mount Evelyn $232,000
2. 21 Laurina Crescent, Frankston North $253,000
3. 1 Plymouth Court, Craigieburn $293,500
4. 3 Panorama Drive, Tootgarook $295,000
5. 13 Warrenwood Close, Ferntree Gully $320,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 502/15 Queens Road, Melbourne $1,158,000
2. 10 Duke Street, Ashburton $1,120,000
3. 225 Highfield Road, Camberwell $995,000
4. 30/350 Toorak Road, South Yarra $855,000
5. 73B Teddington Road, Hampton $815,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 2/82 Pakington Street, St Kilda $260,000
2. 3/3 Balston Street, Balaclava $260,000
3. 4/91 Lincoln Road, Essendon $270,000
4. 5/91 Lincoln Road, Essendon $270,000
5. 1/91 Lincoln Road, Essendon $280,000

Source: REIV

New York’s skinniest house is for sale for $4.3 million.

The home is not only famous for its slender assembly, but also for notable occupants over the years.

The home, that only earns a ‘half’ street number at 75½ Bedford Street, is in one of New York’s most sought-after neighbourhoods, Greenwich Village. It started its life in the 1800’s as a carriageway entrance between numbers 75 and 77 that lead to stables, but evolved into what was a cobbler’s shop, a brewery, then a sweet factory until the 1920s, and finally a home.

Famous residents over the years include Cary Grant; Drew Barrymore’s grandfather John Barrymore; anthropologist Margaret Mead; the cartoonist who created Shrek, William Steig; and American author, Edna St. Vincent Millay, who the house is named after.

The renovated three-story home is just over two and a half metres wide and ten and a half metres long. It’s 200 square metres of state-of-the-art living space includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms, four wood-burning fireplaces, and a basement retreat which is accessed via a trapdoor in the kitchen floor.

Source: millionplus.com.au

Channel Nine’s Channel Nine’s massive hit renovation show The Block will stay in Melbourne and film a second series in the Victorian capital.

Producers of the show purchased four terrace homes in Dorcas St, South Melbourne late last month for a reported $3.025 million.

Watercress Productions is also reported to have purchased a stand-alone four bedroom property in nearby Montague St for about $900,000.

The four separate titles, sold by agents Buxton Albert Park, were sold with plans and permits in place which also allow for a third story to be added to each dwelling.

The South Melbourne terraces follow a similar pattern for homes bought for the show, with living, dining and kitchen located downstairs and three bedrooms situated upstairs.

Set in Richmond, the current series of The Block has been a ratings winner for Channel Nine and the renovated townhouses located just off Church St, have been popular with both locals and visitors all trying to get a glimpse of the completed projects.

The Block was first filmed with host Jamie Durie back in 2003 and was declared a resounding success before flopping in 2004.

The show has been filmed in Sydney since 2008 and has again become a huge hit for key stakeholders over the past few years.

Interestingly though, real estate experts are questioning whether Watercress will make its money back on the Richmond properties after purchasing them for over $3 million before market conditions began to cool.

It’s anyone’s guess what prices will be fetched, considering on last year’s series in the affluent Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, one apartment sold for $1.1 million and one was passed in at $865,000.

hit renovation show The Block will stay in Melbourne and film a second series in the Victorian capital.

Producers of the show purchased four terrace homes in Dorcas St, South Melbourne late last month for a reported $3.025 million.

Watercress Productions is also reported to have purchased a stand-alone four bedroom property in nearby Montague St for about $900,000.

The four separate titles, sold by agents Buxton Albert Park, were sold with plans and permits in place which also allow for a third story to be added to each dwelling.

The South Melbourne terraces follow a similar pattern for homes bought for the show, with living, dining and kitchen located downstairs and three bedrooms situated upstairs.

Set in Richmond, the current series of The Block has been a ratings winner for Channel Nine and the renovated townhouses located just off Church St, have been popular with both locals and visitors all trying to get a glimpse of the completed projects.

The Block was first filmed with host Jamie Durie back in 2003 and was declared a resounding success before flopping in 2004.

The show has been filmed in Sydney since 2008 and has again become a huge hit for key stakeholders over the past few years.

Interestingly though, real estate experts are questioning whether Watercress will make its money back on the Richmond properties after purchasing them for over $3 million before market conditions began to cool.

It’s anyone’s guess what prices will be fetched, considering on last year’s series in the affluent Sydney suburb of Vaucluse, one apartment sold for $1.1 million and one was passed in at $865,000.

Source: realestate.com.au

The Federal Government has launched Securing a clean energy future: the Australian Government’s climate change plan.

The core of the plan is the introduction of a price on carbon pollution.

Treasury’s modelling shows that the construction industry is one of the few to shrink over both the short and long term.

The Government’s own analysis spotlights disturbing risks for the property and construction industry that should be addressed before carbon tax arrangements are finalised.

The Property Council has called for a joint government-business working group to undertake far more detailed modelling of the price impacts of the scheme for the residential and commercial property industries.

Comprehensive modelling should show how much abatement the scheme buys over its first three years, and provide a better understanding of the potential price impacts that will occur when the scheme transitions into its full Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) phase.

Better targeted and designed incentives are also required to encourage building energy efficiency and improve affordability.

The positives are:

• a large commitment to renewable energy programs that could be tailored to promote embedded generation in buildings and precincts;
• an investigation into a national energy efficiency incentive scheme (‘white certificates’) that will tie together and expand existing arrangements; and,
• the potential to rationalise existing environmental reporting arrangements for large investors.

The negatives are:

• a shrinking construction industry (compared to other major economic sectors);
• the absence of any modelling on housing affordability – which is likely to decline as construction costs rise;
• the absence of transition arrangements for fixed price contracts, such as leases; and,
• the lack of protection from unwarranted energy price increases flowing from the electricity sector.
• Source: maverickstategies.com.au

The clearance rate for this weekends auctions is 56 per cent compared to 53 per cent last weekend and 70 per cent on this weekend last year.

There was a total of 377 homes auctioned this weekend, of which 211 sold and 166 were passed in, 101 of those on a vendors bid.

The REIV June quarter median prices showed that over the last three months there was little difference between demand at auction to that at private sale with the median price of houses sold at auction increasing by 1.2 per cent, and those sold at private sale increasing by one per cent.

The median price of houses sold at auction was $730,000 and for those at private sale it was $500,000.

Over the year there was a different picture, private sales have performed more strongly, with an eight per cent increase compared to
2.5 per cent.

The REIV expects 495 auctions next weekend.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 377
Last week: 479
This time last year: 584

S Sold at Auction: 177
SB Sold before Auction: 30
SA Sold after Auction: 4

Passed in: 166
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 101

Clearance rate: 56%

Postponed: 4
Withdrawn: 4
Auctions with no result: 39

PS Private Sales: 425

Total Volume (Auctions): $134.83mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $205.25mil

Total Auctions Houses: 226
Clearance Rate: 58%
Median Price: $627,500
Total Value: $87,272,950

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 140
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $530,000
Total Value: $42,735,600

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 10
Clearance Rate: 20%
Median Price: $485,750
Total Value: $971,500

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 5 Alma Street, Aberfeldie $1,711,000
2. 42 Blyth Street, Brunswick $1,505,500
3. 22 Henry Street, Doncaster $1,450,000
4. 36 Peate Avenue, Glen Iris $1,310,000
5. 33 Sunnyside Grove, Bentleigh $1,235,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 22 Bourke Road, Melton South $225,000
2. 44 Sixth Avenue, Rosebud $260,000
3. 41 Sixth Avenue, Rosebud $260,000
4. 55 Second Avenue, Rosebud $302,500
5. 2 Varsity Court, Albanvale $305,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 3/8 Granter Street, Brighton East $867,000
2. 9 Sebastopol Street, St Kilda East $850,000
3. 23A Frater Street, Kew East $817,000
4. 3/36 Northcote Avenue, Caulfield North $805,000
5. 6/53 Johnston Street, Port Melbourne $770,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 7/17 Kemp Street, Thornbury $302,000
2. 3/30 Strettle Street, Thornbury $317,000
3. 17/82 Beaconsfield Parade, Albert Park $320,000
4. 16/6 Adam Street, Burnley $320,000
5. 11/23 Northcote Road, Armadale $340,000

Source: REIV

Lately, an app invented by an Australian real estate agent named Patrick Berry has been getting downloaded left and right. The app, named “Agent Calculator,” has become a hit on the iPhone/iPad.

Patrick Berry seems like your everyday Tasmanian real estate agent when you first meet him. He works in association with Panotasmania.com, and has had a large amount of success in the real estate world. What is extraordinary about this real estate agent is his creatively-designed app, which will likely take the real estate world by storm.

The Agent Calculator, designed with Australian real estate agents’ needs in mind, comes fully prepared to cover all of the country’s real estate markets. Mini-calculators make the majority of the program. These mini-programs cover a multitude of fields, including Commission, Stamp Duty and Rental Yield.

Calculations don’t only stop there. Conversions like M2 to Squares, and Acres to Hectares are part of the Agent Calculator app. This has made the Agent Calculator a big hit with both professional real estate agents and people who are just learning the insides of the real estate industry.

Real estate agents alone aren’t the only people who noticed this app. It was featured as one of the Top 5 Paid Apps within three days of its release. Apple commended it as a “New and Noteworthy Application.” The accolades continue to come in, and there is no sign of the applause slowing down. It’s understandable; the Agent Calculator, is one of the most useful apps that is designed for Australian real estate agents available.

Agent Calculator, is expected to revolutionize the way real estate agents work, and cut calculation time down significantly. Could it be possible that real estate companies will soon buy this product in bulk for their employees? If the large amount of recognition that Mr. Berry has received for his invention is any clue, it’s a definite possibility. Expect to see more chatter about this revolutionary app in the future!

Source: maverickstrategies.com.au

The clearance from this weekends auctions is 55 per cent compared to 68 per cent over this weekend last year.

This is a small improvement on last weekends’ 53 per cent but is consistent with the year to date clearance rate of 59 per cent.

There was a total of 439 auctions this weekend, of which 243 sold and 196 were passed in. Of the homes passed in 117 were passed in on a vendors bid.

Next weekend the REIV expects 420 auctions.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 439

Last week: 464

This time last year: 577

Sold at auction: 189
Sold before auction: 54
Sold after auction: 0

Passed in: 196
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 117

Clearance Rate: 55%
Postponed: 1
Withdrawn: 2
Auctions with no result: 55

Private Sales: 471

Total Volume (Auctions): $160.25mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $231.22mil

Total Auctions Houses: 263
Clearance Rate: 55%
Median Price: $650,000
Total Value: $107,680,438

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 163
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $480,000
Total Value: $45,903,000

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 12
Clearance Rate: 50%
Median Price: $765,000
Total Value: $6,664,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 16 Mount Street, Glen Waverley $2,280,000
2. 22 Wallis Avenue, Ivanhoe East $1,675,000
3. 21 Kernan Street, Strathmore $1,600,000
4. 9 Nairn Street, Ashburton $1,460,000
5. 14 Susan Street, Sandringham $1,457,500

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 50 Ferguson Street, Upwey $266,000
2. 49 Black Knight Way, Kurunjang $293,000
3. 24 Housden Street, Broadmeadows $325,000
4. 14 Alan Street, Albanvale $332,500
5. 63 Driscolls Road, Kealba $345,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 71 Bluff Road, Black Rock $1,365,000
2. 18 Clive Street, Brighton East $965,000
3. 1/42 Clonaig Street, Brighton East $965,000
4. 8 Barbara Street, Mont Albert North $961,000
5. 15 Rouse Street, Port Melbourne $946,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 19/697 Barkly Street, West Footscray $172,000
2. 1/380 Nepean Highway, Frankston $239,000
3. 1/277 Canterbury Road, Bayswater North $282,500
4. 3/404-406 Lower Heidelberg Road, Eaglemont $287,000
5. 34 Murray Street, Fawkner $298,000

SOURCE: REIV

The clearance rate from this weekends auctions is 55 per cent.

There was a total of 403 homes auctioned, with 223 selling and 180 being passed in. Of the homes passed in 117 were passed in on a vendors bid.

Melbourne’s auction market has moved into winter a normal winter cycle with an average of 463 auctions for next 4 weekends compared to 634 in the first half of the year.
This weekend last year saw 591 auctions and a clearance rate of 65 per cent.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 403
Last week: 650
This time last year: 570

S Sold at auction: 188
SB Sold before auction: 35
SA Sold after auction: 0

Passed in: 180
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 117

Clearance rate: 55%

PS Private Sales: 522

Total Volume (Auctions): $154.68mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $241.17mil

Total Auctions Houses: 234
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $677,000
Total Value: $102,003,000

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 162
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $528,500
Total Value: $51,940,450

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 6
Clearance Rate: 17%
Median Price: $733,000
Total Value: $733,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 30 Walsh Street, Balwyn $1,992,500
2. 52 Maribyrnong Road, Moonee Ponds $1,880,000
3. 31 Foam Street, Elwood $1,835,000
4. 1 Lloyd Street, Balwyn North $1,615,000
5. 6 Towerhill Road, Glen Iris $1,335,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 162 McMahons Road, Frankston $327,000
2. 26 Leslie Street, St Albans $330,000
3. 24 Deanswood Drive, Somerville $332,000
4. 32 Dinsdale Road, Boronia $338,500
5. 2/126 Lower Dandenong Road, Parkdale $370,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 1 Hepburn Avenue, Beaumaris $1,590,000
2. 40 Grout Street, Hampton $1,360,000
3. 202/155 Beach Street, Port Melbourne $1,216,000
4. 16 Austin Road, Hampton $1,125,000
5. 1/5 Munro Street, Kew East $1,080,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 1008/60 Market Street, Melbourne $168,000
2. 4/40 Princes Highway, Dandenong $176,750
3. 15/116 Princes Highway, Dandenong $250,000
4. 14/55 Barkly Street, St Kilda $301,600
5. 411/225 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne $320,000

Source: REIV

Up till this this weekend there has been just over 13,000 auctions in 2011 and a clearance rate of 59 per cent.

The results from auctions this weekend will not result in a significant variation from the overall performance of the market in the past 6 months.

The clearance rate is 58 per cent from 611 auctions.

A total of 355 homes sold at auction and 256 were passed in, 154 of those on a vendors bid.

Next weekend the REIV expects around 470 auctions.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

Total Auctions

This week: 611
Last week: 684
This time last year: 890

S Sold at auction: 310
SB Sold before auction: 44
SA Sold after auction: 1

Passed in: 256
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 154

Clearance rate: 58%

Postponed: 3
Withdrawn: 2
Auctions with no result: 79

PS Private sales: 511

Total Volume (Auctions): $283.52mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $240.91mil

Total Auctions Houses: 394
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $805,000
Total Value: $202,368,000

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 200
Clearance Rate: 63%
Median Price: $520,000
Total Value: $74,702,100

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 13
Clearance Rate: 46%
Median Price: $561,250
Total Value: $4,804,50 0

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 30 St Vincent Place North, Albert Park $6,620,000
2. 2 Hyde Hill Road, Harkaway $4,441,000
3. 81 Kooyongkoot Road, Hawthorn $2,750,000
4. 23 Edwin Road, Templestowe $2,305,000
5. 6-8 Scotts Parade, Ivanhoe $1,935,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 20 Holt Street, Ardeer $297,000
2. 80 Birchwood Boulevard, Deer Park $340,000
3. 245 Carrick Drive, Gladstone Park $350,000
4. 5 Third Avenue, Chelsea Heights $390,000
5. 66 Ervin Road, Kilsyth $394,500

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 425A Beach Road, Beaumaris $1,205,000
2. 35 Gordon Street, Balwyn $1,060,000
3. 5/45-47 Kent Road, Surrey Hills $1,058,000
4. 2/50 Yerrin Street, Balwyn $1,001,000
5. 803/633 Church Street, Richmond $998,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 18/68 Mathoura Road, Toorak $225,000
2. 1/24 Mashoobra Street, Coburg North $277,500
3. 45/97 Broadway, Bonbeach $285,000
4. 34/2 Monash Green Drive, Clayton $288,000
5. 3/1 Nirvana Drive, South Morang $292,500

Source: REIV

BEHIND the scenes, Channel Nine has been busy lodging applications to effectively rebuild the quartet of neighbouring terraces that are the subject of heavily marketed TV show The Block, which airs from June 20.

Nine agreed to buy the four rundown single-storey homes at 37-43 Cameron Street for $3.6 million soon after they hit the market last year. Settlement occurred in February, at about the same time new planning applications were lodged (and subsequently approved) by the City of Yarra council.
Eleven months ago, the terraces were offered for sale with an adjoining 446 square metre parcel of land (addressed 31 – 35 Cameron Street) which Nine is currently using to store materials and machinery.

Prior to sale, the previous owner of the entire 31-43 Cameron Street “block” obtained a permit which would have seen the four terraces demolished and replaced with a three-level, 16-unit residential complex with an underground car park.

However, recently lodged applications approved by council will see the four single-storey homes retained.

Three of the Cameron Street homes are single-fronted, and have been approved for a second-storey extension.

A fourth terrace is double-fronted, and has been approved only for a single-storey extension – presumably a move to “neutralise” any advantage this larger home (on a larger parcel of land) might have on the game’s outcome.

In The Block, couples offer to the market similar properties they have renovated to their tastes, and before the cameras.

The 2011 series is the first time contestants will renovate (and rebuild) houses. Previous shows centred around apartment redevelopments in Sydney’s Bondi, Manly and Vaucluse.

Source: maverick strategies

The clearance from this weekends 639 auctions is 54 per cent. This shows that in all except a few circumstances buyers continue to be cautious when bidding and sellers are unlikely to have their price expectations exceeded, even when the home is sold.

Of the 639 auctions reported a total of 347 sold and 292 were passed in, 201 of those on a vendors bid.

This weekend last year saw a clearance rate of 68 per cent.

Next weekend another 670 auctions are expected.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This Week: 639
Last Week: 154
This time Last Year: 1050

S Sold at Auction: 270
SB Sold before Auction: 74
SA Sold after Auction: 2

Passed in: 292
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 201

Clearance rate: 54%

Postponed: 4

Withdrawn: 5
Auctions with no result: 73

PS Private Sales: 386

Total Volume (Auctions): $235.3mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $176.94mil

Total Auctions Houses: 389
Clearance Rate: 53%
Median Price: $700,000
Total Value: $161,345,056

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 234
Clearance Rate: 58%
Median Price: $505,050
Total Value: $70,669,900

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 12
Clearance Rate: 42%
Median Price: $442,000
Total Value: $2,805,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 16 Beaconsfield Road, Hawthorn East $1,850,000
2. 4 Young Street, Glen Iris $1,635,000
3. 8 Hillard Street, Malvern East $1,560,000
4. 2 Alton Avenue, Brighton $1,475,000
5. 3 Linacre Road, Hampton $1,460,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 42/A Yeats Drive, Delahey $322,500
2. 18 Bluebell Drive, Epping $328,000
3. 7 Joshua Court, Bundoora $360,000
4. 21 Mitarm Close, Mount Evelyn $365,000
5. 131 Gardenia Road, Lalor $380,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 2/7 Maher Street, Brighton $1,410,000
2. 3/145 Beach Street, Port Melbourne $1,165,000
3. 8A Winston Drive, Caulfield South $1,000,000
4. 7 Wallace Grove, Brighton $952,500
5. 1/4 Saxton Street, Box Hill North $945,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 222/367-369 Burwood Road, Hawthorn $147,500
2. 10/107 Gordon Street, Footscray $268,000
3. 6/14-16 Kinlora Avenue, Epping $280,000
4. 1015/480 Collins Street, Melbourne $285,000
5. 1/18 Nolan Street, Frankston $295,000

Source: REIV

1026 Malvern Road ARMADALE

This weekend there have been 146 auctions reported with a clearance rate of 57 per cent.

The long weekend has resulted in a low volume of auctions.

A total of 83 homes were sold and 63 were passed in, of those 38 were passed in on a vendors bid.

This weekend last year saw 348 auctions and a clearance rate of 72 per cent.

Around 700 auctions are expected on each of the next two weekends.

Don’t miss Melbourne Property TV Monday night on Ch31 at 8.30pm.
Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This Week: 146
Last Week: 748
This time Last Year: 348

S Sold at Auction: 67
SB Sold before Auction: 16
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 63
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 38

Clearance rate: 57%

Postponed: 2
Withdrawn: 1
Auctions with no result: 15

PS Private Sales: 494

Total Volume (Auctions): $53.51mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $233.62mil

Total Auctions Houses: 102
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $647,500
Total Value: $39,213,250

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 43
Clearance Rate: 58%
Median Price: $540,000
Total Value: $13,558,499

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 1
Clearance Rate: 100%
Median Price: $740,500
Total Value: $740,500

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 1 Bond Street, Caulfield $1,625,000
2. 3 Irving Avenue, Box Hill $1,580,000
3. 11 Slater Street, Northcote $1,430,000
4. 27 Barak Road, Port Melbourne $1,400,000
5. 23 Christmas Street, Northcote $1,160,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 131 Cranbourne-Frankston Road, Langwarrin $297,500
2. 19 Ramsbury Street, Craigieburn $337,000
3. 27 Bartlett Avenue, Croydon $345,000
4. 32 Hayes Avenue, Rosebud $360,000
5. 10 Lockwoods Road, Boronia $365,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 15B York Street, Bentleigh East $825,000
2. 2/22 Mclaren Street, Mount Waverley $800,000
3. 1/117 Mascoma Street, Strathmore $790,000
4. 1/22 Mclaren Street, Mount Waverley $782,000
5. 5 Newbigin Street, Burwood $720,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 1/2 Lake Street, Reservoir $332,000
2. 1/22 Hutton Avenue, Ferntree Gully $340,000
3. 1/30 Chetwynd Street, West Melbourne $365,000
4. 1C Grandview Grove, Bayswater $380,000
5. 2/8 Crown Avenue, Mordialloc $380,000

Source: REIV

SOURCE: the age

Archicentre’s David Hallett said rising energy prices were becoming a highly identified cost in every family budget and on the bottomline of every business.

“Homeowners with well-designed and insulated homes, including solar panels and rainwater tanks, stand to see hundreds of dollars a year cut from their energy and water bills as prices escalate dramatically,” he said.

Mr Hallett said the pressure of housing affordability today was not just in the initial building or purchase costs, but had spread into the services such as power, water and gas needed to run a home.

“The property market will become increasingly driven by running costs that will be automatically factored in by buyers who are looking at balancing their mortgages and other costs,” he said.

“The reality is the payback period for solar panels and other energy saving technology has shortened dramatically with power costs in the past two years skyrocketing.”

Mr Hallett said one of the biggest trends in new homes and renovations was likely to be the introduction of quality-based building inspections aimed at ensuring homes with a six or more green star design were actually built to the standard.

He said six-star performances quickly evaporated if there were gaps in the doors or window seals, if poor quality insulation was installed, or the roof was faulty.

“Not only will the continuing increased energy prices boost property values, they will also put a strong focus on the quality of construction of renovations and new homes in the future in relation to sustainability,” Mr Hallett said.

SOURCE: news.com.au

This weekend 58 per cent of homes auctioned have resulted in a sale.

There is no doubt that most buyers and sellers will be hoping that the Reserve Bank keeps interest rates stable when they meet on Tuesday.

A total of 694 auctions were reported this weekend. Of those 403 sold and 291 were passed in, 187 of those on a vendors bid.

The last time the Melbourne market recorded 6 weeks with a clearance rate in the 50′s was late 2008 in the peak of the spring selling season. It is interesting to note that whilst its now winter the volume of auctions is the same as it was in late 2008.

This weekend last year saw 915 auctions and a clearance rate of 69 per cent.

Make sure you tune into Melbourne Property TV on Monday night at 8.30pm on Ch 31 to see experts discuss this weekends residential market.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This Week: 694
Last Week: 879
This time Last Year: 915

S Sold at Auction: 346
SB Sold before Auction: 57
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 291
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 187

Clearance rate: 58%

Postponed: 7
Withdrawn: 2
Auctions with no result: 79

PS Private Sales: 569

Total Volume (Auctions): $286.05mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $274.2mil

Total Auctions Houses: 438
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $700,000
Total Value: $194,292,488

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 246
Clearance Rate: 62%
Median Price: $530,000
Total Value: $84,585,513

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 10
Clearance Rate: 50%
Median Price: $610,000
Total Value: $7,170,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 72 Burke Road, Malvern East $2,500,000
2. 63 Reed Street, Albert Park $1,931,000
3. 81 Illawarra Road, Hawthorn $1,880,000
4. 138 Peel Street, Kew $1,850,000
5. 48 Finch Street, Malvern East $1,620,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 17-19 Wombat Crescent, East Warburton $175,000
2. 1/50 Elonera Road, Noble Park North $280,000
3. 15 Kathryn Close, Pakenham $301,250
4. 39 Childers Crest, Coolaroo $316,000
5. 30 Kirkwood Crescent, Hampton Park $330,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 14/165 Rose Street, Fitzroy $1,235,000
2. 3/543A Toorak Road, Toorak $1,005,000
3. 24A Ivy Street, Hampton $990,000
4. 5/3 Green Street, Richmond $981,000
5. 5/3 Christine Crescent, Richmond $915,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 2/8 Coghill Street, Westmeadows $220,000
2. 2/8 Albert Street, Dandenong South $236,000
3. 15/204 Ballarat Road, Footscray $280,000
4. 15/18-28 Alfrick Road, Croydon $280,000
5. 6/138 Shields Street, Flemington $290,000

SOURCE: REIV

A recessed share market and employment shakeout in the finance and property sectors following the global financial crisis was expected to result in tough times in the prestige housing market, but some traditional price leaders have recorded significant growth over the two years to March 31, 2011.

Notable performers with medians over $1.2 million include Malvern with 295 sales and price growth of 26.2 per cent, Camberwell (578/32 per cent), Glen Iris (673/26.3 per cent), and Kew with 662 home sales and a median house price that increased by 43.1 per cent. Brighton remained Melbourne’s most popular prestige suburb over the period with 765 sales and median house price growth of 10 per cent.

Source: The Age

For the fifth weekend in a row demand remained subdued at auctions in Melbourne with a clearance rate in the 50′s being recorded.

The clearance rate is 59 per cent from the 829 auctions reported this weekend. This weekend last year saw 990 auctions held and a clearance rate of 72 per cent achieved.

There was a total of 487 homes sold at auction with 342 passed in, 236 of those on a vendors bid.

Next weekend the REIV expects around 785 auctions.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This Week: 829
Last Week: 769
This time Last Year: 990

S Sold at Auction: 418
SB Sold before Auction: 69
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 342
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 236

Clearance rate: 59%

Postponed: 1
Withdrawn:5
Auctions with no result: 86

PS Private Sales: 348

Total Volume (Auctions): $399.25mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $167.77mil

Total Auctions Houses: 546
Clearance Rate: 57%
Median Price: $795,000
Total Value: $293,473,585

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 250
Clearance Rate: 59%
Median Price: $540,000
Total Value: $83,095,855

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 29
Clearance Rate: 79%
Median Price: $330,000
Total Value: $18,064,300

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 46 Elizabeth Street, Malvern $4,680,000
2. 63 Outer Crescent, Brighton $2,610,000
3. 1 Pelham Place, Balwyn $2,495,000
4. 6 Kelvin Grove, Prahran $2,400,000
5. 47 Walpole Street, Kew $2,350,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 29 Ortolan Avenue, Broadmeadows $245,000
2. 5 Inverloch Crescent, Dallas $306,000
3. 21 Cascade Street, Frankston $341,000
4. 3 St Leger Place, Epping $350,000
5. 5 Labassa Court, Mernda $353,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 2 Frederick Street, Malvern $1,540,000
2. 9 Macfarlan Place, South Yarra $1,500,000
3. 135 Linacre Road, Hampton $1,220,000
4. 8 Barkly Avenue, Armadale $1,155,000
5. 13 Winfield Road, Balwyn North $1,135,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 18/99-109 Creswick Street, Footscray $217,500
2. 38A Erinbank Crescent, Westmeadows $240,000
3. 9/91 Grosvenor Street, St Kilda East $275,000
4. 21/1 Pottery Court, Brunswick West $295,250
5. 4/29 Greville Street, Prahran $300,000

SOURCE: REIV

Although the housing market has been subdued, some suburbs remain popular with buyers.

Melbourne’s top five suburbs for house price growth over the past year were led by Essendon North, which grew by 52.6 per cent, Docklands 46.2 per cent, Sandhurst 42.2 per cent, Keilor East 31.4 per cent and Spotswood with annual price growth of 31.4 per cent. All these suburbs are located in the inner and middle precincts of western Melbourne.

Sustained house price growth is dependent on a resilient robust economy with rising employment generating increased incomes and prosperity.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, employment growth in Melbourne over the past year has been led by the north-western suburbs with jobs increasing 10.5 per cent and, together with the outer-western suburbs, this area now accounts for nearly 25 per cent of all Melbourne employment. The popularity of these suburbs among buyers reflects the strength of the jobs market in these areas.

The latest federal budget anticipates strong jobs growth and rising incomes, which will underpin the prospects for a stable Melbourne housing market.

Dr Andrew Wilson is senior economist for the Fairfax Media-owned Australian Property Monitors.

Source: the age

This is lower than the year to date clearance rate of 61 per cent and less that the comparable weekend last year when there was 776 auctions reported with a clearance rate of 75 per cent.

Of the 518 auctions reported this weekend a total of 292 sold and 226 were passed in, 140 of those on a vendors bid.

Conditions have clearly shifted in buyers favor again and this will continue to be the case over the rest of May with an average of 694 auctions each weekend, well above the 20 year average of 551.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This Week: 518
Last Week: 630
This time Last Year: 776

S Sold at Auction: 234
SB Sold before Auction: 56
SA Sold after Auction: 2

Passed in: 226
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 140

Clearance rate: 56%

Postponed: 3
Withdrawn:3
Auctions with no result: 81

PS Private Sales: 550

Total Volume (Auctions): $198.19mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $267.54mil

Total Auctions Houses: 337
Clearance Rate: 56%
Median Price: $678,000
Total Value: $143,347,738

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 169
Clearance Rate: 57%
Median Price: $495,000
Total Value: $52,350,100

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 11
Clearance Rate: 55%
Median Price: $395,000
Total Value: $1,670,000
House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 53 Michael Street, Fitzroy North $1,700,000
2. 9 Clevedon Court, Kew $1,680,000
3. 21 Kerry Parade, Balwyn $1,670,000
4. 4 Felix Street, Surrey Hills $1,610,000
5. 4 Retreat Road, Hampton $1,550,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 5 Manna Court, Meadow Heights $280,000
2. 3/84 Civic Parade, Altona $335,000
3. 3 Gilbert Court, Keysborough $345,000
4. 8 Ninda Court, Westmeadows $360,000
5. 6 Lumeah Crescent, Ferntree Gully $381,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 1-6/97 York Street, Prahran $2,485,000
2. 1/8 Wattle Avenue, Beaumaris $1,262,000
3. 12/88 Main Street, Blackburn $930,000
4. 406/89 Beach Street, Port Melbourne $850,500
5. 2/191 McKean Street, Fitzroy North $786,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 2/7 Turnbull Court, Ringwood $245,000
2. 2/47 Goolgowie Street, Rosebud $250,500
3. 6/12-18 Margaret Crescent, Braybrook $260,000
4. 5/62 Bridge Street, Eltham $270,000
5. 3/23 Begonia Avenue, Bayswater $272,600

Source: REIV

There was a total of 777 auctions reported this weekend of which a total 474 sold and 303 were passed in, 197 of those on a vendors bid.

Further results will be reported tomorrow.

The result contrasts to this weekend last year when there was 1073 auctions and a clearance rate of 85 per cent.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 777
Last Weekend: 918
This weekend last year: 1012

S Sold at Auction: 400
SB Sold before Auction: 68
SA Sold after Auction: 6

Passed in: 303
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 197

Clearance rate: 61%

Postponed: 3
Withdrawn: 4
Auctions with no result: 113

PS Private Sales: 618

Total Volume (Auctions): $343.03mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $306.39mil

Total Auctions Houses: 512
Clearance Rate: 62%
Median Price: $745,000
Total Value: $260,445,905

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 254
Clearance Rate: 59%
Median Price: $489,000
Total Value: $78,344,330

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 11
Clearance Rate: 73%
Median Price: $509,000
Total Value: $4,244,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 26 Chaucer Crescent, Canterbury $2,640,000
2. 61 Abbott Street, Sandringham $2,025,000
3. 54 Electra Street, Williamstown $1,950,000
4. 5 Claremont Crescent, Canterbury $1,860,000
5. 6 Munro Street, Brighton $1,830,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 73 Highbury Road, Tootgarook $322,500
2. 60 Calendula Circuit, Epping $332,500
3. 310 Findon Road, Epping $333,000
4. 164 Forest Road, Ferntree Gully $337,500
5. 9 Beaconsfield-Emerald Road, Emerald $348,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 2 Bruce Street, Beaumaris $1,331,000
2. 4/32-34 Kerr Street, Fitzroy $1,100,000
3. 48A Rosedale Road, Glen Iris $900,000
4. 56 Clifton Street, Balwyn North $860,000
5. 1/130 Nepean Highway, Aspendale $835,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 109/903 Dandenong Road, Malvern East $133,000
2. 15/55 Clow Street, Dandenong $202,000
3. 2/38 Spring Street, Thomastown $228,000
4. 18/44 Kneen Street, Fitzroy North $230,000
5. 610/100 Exhibition Street, Melbourne $250,000

Source: REIV

From a city wide perspective the Melbourne residential auction market is very consistent right now with each weekend looking like the last.

This weekend the clearance rate is 66 per cent and over the last 4 weekends it has been between 63 and 67 per cent.

There was a total of 881 auctions reported of which 579 sold, 302 were passed in, 191 of those on a vendors bid.

On this weekend last year there were 889 auctions and a clearance rate of 87 per cent.

The REIV is expecting over 800 auctions on each of the next three weekends, continuing this weekends solid number of listings.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 881
Last Weekend: 249
This weekend last year: 889

S Sold at Auction: 467
SB Sold before Auction: 107
SA Sold after Auction: 5

Passed in: 302
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 191

Clearance rate: 66%

Postponed: 8
Withdrawn: 6
Auctions with no result: 100

PS Private Sales: 558

Total Volume (Auctions): $449.14mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $279.89mil

Total Auctions Houses: 550
Clearance Rate: 66%
Median Price: $780,000
Total Value: $324,783,438

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 312
Clearance Rate: 68%
Median Price: $520,500
Total Value: $119,831,138

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 19
Clearance Rate: 37%
Median Price: $390,000
Total Value: $4,530,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 15 Victor Avenue, Kew $4,100,000
2. 3 Merrion Place, Kew $2,810,000
3. 57 Devon Street, Eaglemont $2,530,000
4. 123 Riversdale Road, Hawthorn $2,515,000
5. 737 Orrong Road, Toorak $2,510,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 16 Harbour Way, Blind Bight $280,000
2. 64 Bardsley Street, Sunshine West $318,000
3. 31 Walsh Street, Broadmeadows $320,000
4. 31 Tarene Street, Dandenong South $321,000
5. 42 Margate Avenue, Frankston $330,000

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. 2 Davis Avenue, Camberwell $1,711,000
2. 2/29 Lewisham Road, Windsor $1,290,000
3. 1/20 Findon Street, Hawthorn $1,285,000
4. 604/216 Rouse Street, Port Melbourne $1,225,000
5. 2/32-34 Kerr Street, Fitzroy $1,150,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 11/33 Rae Street, Fitzroy North $190,500
2. 2/50 Elonera Road, Noble Park North $280,000
3. 12/88 Victoria Street, Williamstown $285,000
4. 1/72 Dover Street, Flemington $285,000
5. 7/280 Cardigan Street, Carlton $286,500

SOURCE: REIV

The word ‘auction’ comes from a Latin word that means ‘to increase’ and is a method of sale designed to have a buyer pay as much as possible without any ceiling price being disclosed.That is all very fine, but if there is only one interested party then who do you compete against? The auctioneer of course. And therein lies the problem.

An unskilled auctioneer will not be able to convincingly encourage the buyer or buyers to increase their bids and so leave the seller with the possibility of underselling the property.

The buyer will be happy, but I thought a good deal was when it is good for both parties.

On the other hand, a skilled auctioneer working in tandem with a good negotiation agent, can have a buyer tied up in knots and paying far more than they planned. A very stressful situation.

Auctions go way back to 500BC, when they were commonly held to sell women for marriage. Times haven’t changed all that much – it reminds me of that dreadful Farmer Wants A Wife TV show.

The pros and cons for auction are different for the buyer and the seller, so it depends on which side of the fence you fall.  Buyers will tell you they hate auctions because they feel like they are being forced to pay more than they would under normal private treaty negotiations, due to the pressure of auction day.

Also, they have to do their due diligence before the auction which involves several hundred dollars to do building and pest inspections and that is without even knowing if they will be successful on the day.

Many buyers will not even consider an auction property because there is no price guide.

Sellers dislike auctions because of the perceived pressure they will be under on the day to sell and also the cost of marketing can be as much as 1 per cent of the value of the property.  If you are a seller, agents will tell you that the auction process the the way to achieve a premium price because there is no ceiling or disclosed price.

But go to any auction open house and ask the agent for a price and you will likely get one – albeit a low one to ‘bait the buyers’. How is that going to achieve a premium price?

Buyers are encouraged to come to the auction because they believe that it could be a bargain and because they are told that the negotiations will be transparent and open.

So let me get this straight – the sellers want a premium and the buyers want a bargain and all this has to be played out in public.

Is it any wonder that agents have a hard time selling the concept to sellers. Why do they bother?

Here is why…

1. Auction properties sell in fewer days;

2. Auctions have a higher success rate;

3. Auctions normally carry an extensive marketing budget;

4. Auctions that sell under the hammer get a result with less time spent in negotiation for the agent; and

5. Successful auctions normally result in more auctions for the agent.

Would you buy or sell a property at auction?

In light of the very high number of auctions today the clearance rate of 68 that was achieved is a very healthy result and demonstrates that underlying demand is good.

Including this weekend’s activity, the REIV has seen average weekly auction listings increase by around 30 per cent compared to winter; interestingly, the clearance rate for spring has not changed substantially, with around 68 per cent of homes selling during the first eight weeks of spring.

There were 951 auctions reported today of which 643 sold and 308 were passed in, 192 of those on a vendors bid.

The total value of auction sales reported was $531.06M and there were $241.77M in private sales reported this week resulting in a $772.83M worth of homes selling this week.

There are more auction expected tomorrow which in addition to those reported late today will take numbers closer to the expected total number of auctions for the weekend.

This weekend last year saw 891 auctions and a clearance rate of 82 per cent.

Next weekend there will be around 430 auctions and on the following weekend there are 690 expected.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 951
Last Weekend: 670
This weekend last year: 837

S Sold at Auction: 540
SB Sold before Auction: 101
SA Sold after Auction: 2

Passed in: 308
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 192

Clearance rate: 68%

Postponed: 2
Withdrawn: 1
Auctions with no result: 130

PS Private Sales: 511

PS Private Sales: 515

Total Volume (Auctions): $531.06mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $241.77mil

Total Auctions Houses: 660
Clearance Rate: 67%
Median Price: $790,500
Total Value: $407,111,818

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 276
Clearance Rate: 71%
Median Price: $555,250
Total Value: $115,888,500

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 14
Clearance Rate: 50%
Median Price: $650,000
Total Value: $6,550,000
 

House Sales in Detail
 

TOP 5 HOUSES
1. 47 Auburn Road, Hawthorn East $3,205,000
2. 9 Currajong Avenue, Camberwell $2,812,500
3. 25 Bolton Avenue, Hampton $2,800,000
4. 33 Victoria Avenue, Canterbury $2,550,000
5. 2 Deepdene Road, Balwyn $2,510,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES
1. 9 Mary Street, Hamlyn Heights $267,500
2. 7 Heytesbury Street, Herne Hill $277,000
3. 55 Gorge Road, South Morang $318,000
4. 46 Mackie Road, Mulgrave $320,000
5. 35 Margaret Street, Werribee $332,500

 
Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS
1. T01/147 Beach Street, Port Melbourne $1,850,000
2. 2D Wilks Avenue, Malvern $1,393,000
3. 71A Munro Avenue, Ashburton $1,390,000
4. 108 Surrey , South Yarra $1,310,000
5. 2/54 Through Road, Camberwell $1,291,000
 

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS
1. 5/19 Kingsville Street, Kingsville $212,000
2. 11/33 Grey Street, St Kilda $235,000
3. 8/16 Warleigh Road, Footscray $244,500
4. 9/17 Greene Street, Spotswood $261,000
5. 3/552 Moreland Road, Brunswick West $262,000

SOURCE REIV

There were 426 auctions reported today of which 317 sold and 109 were passed in, 58 of those on a vendors bid.

This weekend last year there was 486 auctions with a clearance rate of 84 per cent.

Of the auctions originally scheduled for today that were moved around half have been moved to next week and the other half to the following weekend.
Next weekend the REIV expects around 755 auctions and then 715 the weekend after.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV 

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 426
Last weekend: 56
This time last year: 467

S Sold at Auction: 240
SB Sold before Auction: 77
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 109
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 58
 

Clearance rate: 74%

Postponed: 0
Withdrawn: 1
Auctions with no result: 82

PS Private Sales: 462

Total Volume (Auctions): $204.47mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $223.32mil

Total Auctions Houses: 264
Clearance Rate: 75%
Median Price: $636,000
Total Value: $138,241,035

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 158
Clearance Rate: 74%
Median Price: $495,000
Total Value: $64,189,103

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 4
Clearance Rate: 50%
Median Price: $1,020,000
Total Value: $2,040,000

House Sales in Detail
 

TOP 5 HOUSES

1. 77-101 River Avenue, Plenty $3,830,000
2. 15 Ruskin Street, Elwood $1,900,000
3. 2 Smythe Avenue, Mont Albert $1,520,000
4. 67 Mccracken Street, Essendon $1,510,000
5. 1 Bewdley Street, Ormond $1,270,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES

1. 10 Casey Avenue, Sunbury $320,000
2. 49 Booran Parade, Tootgarook $320,500
3. 1 Hutzul Court, Delahey $327,500
4. 14 Hakea Avenue, Rosebud West $340,000
5. 48 Hayes Avenue, Rosebud $355,000
 
Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS

1. 26 Albion Street, South Yarra $1,375,000
2. 1/31 Robinson Road, Hawthorn $1,265,000
3. 1 Southland Street, Glen Iris $1,209,000
4. 101/228 The Avenue Avenue, Parkville $1,200,000
5. 1/32 Mercer Road, Armadale $1,120,000
 

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS

1. 8 Kim Lane, Melton West $231,000
2. 9/745 Barkly Street, West Footscray $251,000
3. 3/18 The Crest, Frankston South $252,000
4. 5/245 Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena $265,000
5. 10/87 Alma Road, St Kilda East $283,000

Source: REIV

Steady bidder …Rob and Dana Finnigan, with Jack, 3, and Ada, 4, at their Maroubra home.

Use a bidding style that works for you to avoid auction angst, writes Carolyn Boyd.

Tension fills the air. Your heart beats a little faster. It’s auction time.

While it may all come down to who has the deepest pockets on the day, sometimes how you play the game will influence just how high the other bidders are prepared to go.

“The tactics really are a mind game in an auction,” says auctioneer and the owner of Think Real Estate, Brian Cannan.

// “I hear buyers say: ‘What’s the point? He’s going to beat me.’ So the other purchaser has done his job well. He’s just psyched them out.”

Bidding at auction can be nerve-racking for all. Here are seven ways bidders tend to approach it:

Experienced eagle:

Eagles can spot the prize from a long way off and have played the game before. They are happy to circle until a move is needed. But they’re just as comfortable diving in early.

“They’re a knowledgeable buyer, they’ve probably bid at auction before and that would also include buyer advocates,” says an auctioneer with Cooley Auctions, Christopher Mourd. They tend to come in confidently and bid strongly throughout.

Eagles are never rude, sarcastic or obnoxious but they will calmly meet the gaze of others to let them know they are determined get their catch.

Mourd says they will stand looking forward to the crowd to make it clear where they are and will make very clear, bold bids.

It’s a good tactic, he says. “If you make the first bid loud and strong, well, you’re controlling the auction. You’re saying to everyone else: ‘I want this property. Now if you want it, you’ve got to beat me for it.”‘

Where there is not a lot of interest on a property, Eagles will sometimes sit back and let the property pass in on a vendor bid and then attempt to negotiate a deal.

High Flyer:

The High Flyer wants to blow competitors out of the water on the opening bid. They hope to secure the house with one bid and go in big with an offer at or above the price expectation.

The risk is they may pay too much. The advantage is they could scare off competitors, particularly if they are nervous and less experienced.

Cannan says it’s a tactic that could work where there is plenty of interest in a property – and one he has used. If there’s not a lot of interest, you’d probably hold back.

“As an auctioneer, it takes a while to convince the other bidders that they should join in [after a high opening bid],” Cannan says.

“They sit back and go: ‘Wow, we’re starting there!”‘ Mourd says the High Flyer is a rare breed and often a buyer’s agent, bidding on behalf of a client.

Meek and Mild:

Lacking in confidence, Meek and Mild buyers may be new to bidding and are often first home buyers. They can be slow to make decisions and risk finding the auction has finished before they make a bid.

“Because auctions move so fast, often it can be difficult to keep up with the pace of it,” Mourd says. He says these bidders respond well when auctioneers give them time, and experienced auctioneers will do just that.

Meek and Mild buyers tend to cluster at the same auctions – the properties that attract first home purchasers – but they can face a real challenge if there is an investor in the room because they tend to bid as Experienced Eagles.

“Quite often they go for similar properties and you’ll find that often the investor really understands what they’re doing,” Mourd says.

While Meek and Milds are still making up their mind, Experienced Eagles may have swooped on the property and flown off with it.

If you’re not sure if you might comes across as Meek and Mild, psychologist Grant Brecht, who specialises in leadership development and coaching, suggests asking friends and family for feedback.

On auction day, take a few deep breaths to calm yourself and stick to your bidding plan. “The plan will get them there, especially if they’ve been to a few auctions to see how it works,” Brecht says.

Last-Minute Nelly:

Usually the last to show up before the action begins, Last-Minute Nellies reserve their first bid until the hammer looks certain to fall.

Cannan says Last-Minute Nellies are adopting a risky tactic that requires precision timing – and the auctioneer’s eye.

Be a split-second too late and the auctioneer may have sent the gavel down, which means the deal is already done with another bidder.

“If the gavel comes down, I can’t reopen it and people get upset,” says Cannan, who was confronted with that very scenario at the auction of an eastern suburbs penthouse.

“The gentleman got very upset and I said: ‘Well sir, you haven’t made a bid.’ And he said: ‘Well, I just did.”‘

Cannan suggests letting the auctioneer know you are in the hunt. “Make an early bid and then sit back if you want,” he says. “A good auctioneer will come back to you before the hammer comes down.”

Fast and Furious:

Fast and Furious buyers hope to put their opposition off with their pace – or simply tire them out. They seemingly have deep pockets and can make a decision in a nanosecond.

“People turn around and go: ‘He’s just not going to stop, is he?”‘ Cannan says.

Brecht says Fast and Furious bidders can unnerve those around them. “They don’t understand what the hell is going on,” he says. “Are they going to pull out early? Or are they going to stay in there for the long haul?”

If you find yourself up against such a bidder, Cannan says try not to get spooked because everyone has a limit, even if they’re not showing it.

Loud and Obnoxious:

Once abundant, Loud and Obnoxious bidders are now a rare species. “Ten or 15 years ago, it was very commonplace for people to be obnoxious and want to take on the auctioneer and be quite outrageous,” Mourd says.

Obnoxious bidders may try to put buyers off by asking questions about the property before and during the auction – such as whether a nearby development will block the property’s view.

Cannan says such tactics could leave the bidder open to a challenge of collusive practice as it is an offence to attempt to get others to abstain from bidding.

There is a chance Loud and Obnoxious bidders could undermine the confidence of other buyers – or they could just infuriate them.

“Some people say … ‘even if it costs me another 20 or 30 grand, I’m prepared to go there just so that someone that obnoxious doesn’t get their way’,” Brecht says.

Mourd puts the disappearance of Loud and Obnoxious bidders down to stronger regulation to make auctions fairer and more open.

“People know they’re going in and bidding against genuine bidders and all that passion and heat has long since left,” he says.

The Outsider:

Wrangled in to bid on behalf of a friend or family member, The Outsider is aloof. It’s not their money, after all.

“They can be very offhand because they’re not emotionally attached to the property themselves,” Mourd says.

Auctioneers can usually spot The Outsider and so can other bidders. Their presence can elicit one of two responses, Mourd says.

“They might seem more experienced and more confident and therefore can put that feeling to the other bidders that this is a person who is going to own it,” he says.

Alternatively, they can sometimes come across as arrogant.

“Anyone displaying arrogance at an auction can upset the other buyers to the extent that they will be determined to beat them.”

Every man has his price – and research helps Rob find his

Long before Rob Finnigan stepped into the on-site auction of his new house at Maroubra, he did his research and came to a figure that he’d be prepared to pay on the day.

The lawyer and his wife, Dana, looked at seven-plus properties that had sold in the nearby streets in recent months to help them understand the prices similar houses were selling for.

When it came to auction day, Finnigan had a clear strategy — he would open the bidding if he could and go up in $10,000 lots until he reached his limit of $1.18 million. Used to standing up in a courtroom, Finnigan was comfortable calling out his bids and wasn’t swayed when another party decided to jump in with $20,000 offers.

The father-of-two positioned himself close enough to the auctioneer so he could be easily seen but slightly to the side so he could watch the other bidders, too.

After some steady bidding, the young family secured the three-bedroom semi on 304 square metres, which was for auction through Trent Knox of McGrath Estate Agents, for $1,165,000.

“The safety net is your research and having the comparables and then just making sure you get a building report and that it’s a sound structure and that there’s no surprises,” Finnigan says.

“If you pay a fair price for it and you live there for five, six, seven, eight years, you can’t really go wrong. It’s not just about money and an investment, it’s somewhere to live and everybody needs somewhere to live.”

Prepare to bid:

• Go to a few auctions to get comfortable with the process.
• Learn who the auctioneer will be and attend some of his or her auctions.
• Ask the agent how many contracts are out on the property and how many building and pest inspections have been done, to get an indication of the likely interest level.
• Set a limit. Auctioneer Brian Cannan says your maximum should never be a round number, as that is where other bidders will set their limits, too. So if you are thinking of $800,000, try to stretch it to $802,000.
• Think about your strategy. Psychologist Grant Brecht says if you are naturally less assertive, a strategy can get you through.
• Remember to take identification and your deposit to the auction. In NSW you cannot register to bid without identification.

Source: the age domain

Auction numbers were bolstered this weekend due to vendors avoiding auctions on the AFL Grand Final next weekend, the increase in stock however has not negatively impacted demand with a clearance rate of 72 per cent recorded, compared to 67 per cent last weekend.

There were 607 auctions reported this weekend with a total of 438 selling and 169 passed in, 103 of those on a vendors bid.

This weekend last year saw 820 auctions held with a clearance rate of 82 per cent.

Next weekend there are around 50 auctions followed by just under 600 the  following weekend.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 607
Last weekend: 643
This time last year: 796

S Sold at Auction: 374
SB Sold before Auction: 64
SA Sold after Auction: 0
 

Passed in: 169
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 103

Clearance rate: 72%

Postponed: 0
Withdrawn: 0
Auctions with no result: 132

PS Private Sales: 519

Total Volume (Auctions): $336.93mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $264.3mil

Total Auctions Houses: 394
Clearance Rate: 75%
Median Price: $733,750
Total Value: $253,077,250

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 203
Clearance Rate: 68%
Median Price: $535,500
Total Value: $80,642,490

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 10
Clearance Rate: 50%
Median Price: $640,000
Total Value: $3,213,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES

1. 23 Bevan Street, Balwyn $3,480,000
2. 24 Ferncroft Avenue, Malvern East $2,070,000
3. 489 The Boulevard, Ivanhoe East $1,740,000
4. 928 Canterbury Road, Box Hill South $1,735,000
5. 51 Broadway, Camberwell $1,700,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES

1. 89 Palmerston Street, Melton $278,000
2. 15 Kingdom Avenue, Kings Park $296,000
3. 42 Ventnor Crescent, Coolaroo $300,000
4. 15 Muirfield Drive, Sunbury $301,500
5. 174 Forrest Street, Ardeer $315,000
 

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS

1. 12/371 Toorak Road, South Yarra $1,395,000
2. 24 Susan Street, Sandringham $1,220,000
3. 12 York Street, Brighton $1,175,000
4. 43A Mary Street, Hawthorn $1,102,000
5. 248 Stanley Street, West Melbourne $1,100,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS

1. 4/93 Blackshaws Road, Newport $222,000
2. 11/29 Schutt Street, Newport $256,000
3. 7/11A Holmes Street, Brunswick $290,000
4. 14/1199 Heatherton Road, Noble Park $290,000
5. 2/112 North Road, Reservoir $295,000

Source: REIV

The new housing code is “so technically driven and restrictive that most mums and dads would not be able to understand the process”.

The new housing code, which was intended to streamline the planning process for simple houses and additions by removing the need for a development application, is “so technically driven and restrictive that most mums and dads would not be able to understand the process”, says the Planning Institute of Australia

The code was introduced in February last year and promised approval by the local council or a private certifier in 10 days for complying applications.

“This usually means they need to engage and pay a person with a strong understanding of the planning process to assist in the preparation of documents,” Tony McNamara, the NSW president of the planning institute, said. He is also the director of planning and environment at Canada Bay Council.

// “When you include the cost associated with checking and reviewing the legislation and the high risk to certifiers in being reported to the Building Professionals Board if they get the most minor aspect of the development wrong, there is little incentive for this scheme to be taken up by the building market.

“Council officers and certifiers are now seeing a continual stream of changes and amendments to planning and building legislation. This is difficult even for skilled assessment officers to keep up with,” he said.

“The housing code and its provision of complying and exempt development needs greater exposure and explanation in user-friendly terms which the mums and dads can understand.”

Mr McNamara proposes a more radical solution for speeding up the processing of new housing applications – removing the requirement for a development application on land which is already zoned residential.

At best, a development application faces many hurdles before it is approved and, at worst, approval to build a house may be refused even though the council has zoned the land as residential.

Mr McNamara sees the introduction of a separate development application and construction certificate for housing and outbuildings in the 1998 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act as a principal cause of added costs and delays in processing applications.

“There are two lots of paperwork and two lots of fees,” he said.

A DA involves additional cost and paperwork such as a statement of environmental effects, he said.

Before 1998 a single building application was all that was required and many council planners privately advocate a return to the old system.

Mr McNamara also proposes removing the need to notify neighbours of small-scale developments.

“Neighbours object to even the most minor building alterations, for example a skylight, and the objection process is used as payback to a neighbour over some previous dispute,” he said.

”There is a large cost attached to councils facilitating objections and mediations.”

Source: The age domain

Another healthy result from this weekends 582 auctions with a clearance rate of 70 per cent reached.

This level of demand is consistent with recent results and suggests that the market has found a reasonable balance, an outcome that is in contrast to the past few years.

There were 582 auctions reported this weekend of which 408 sold and 174 were passed in, 115 of those on a vendors bid.

The REIV expects around 760 auctions next weekend.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV 

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 582
Last weekend: 664
This time last year: 684

S Sold at Auction: 347
SB Sold before Auction: 61
SA Sold after Auction: 0

Passed in: 174
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 115

Clearance rate: 70%

Postponed: 0
Withdrawn: 0
Auctions with no result: 84

PS Private Sales: 577

Total Volume (Auctions): $317.7mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $295.11mil

Total Auctions Houses: 371
Clearance Rate: 70%
Median Price: $712,000
Total Value: $227,541,654

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 195
Clearance Rate: 70%
Median Price: $525,000
Total Value: $84,494,500

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 16
Clearance Rate: 69%
Median Price: $517,500
Total Value: $5,668,000

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES

1. 4 Forrest Court, Toorak $4,050,000
2. 24 Netherlee Street, Glen Iris $2,660,000
3. 4 Wahroonga Court, Glen Iris $2,350,000
4. 69 & 69A St Helens Road, Hawthorn East $2,134,000
5. 18 Carn Avenue, Ivanhoe $2,040,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES

1. 14/11 Williams Street, Frankston South $231,500
2. 28 Pine Street, Frankston North $270,000
3. 16 Robertson Street, East Geelong $300,500
4. 1 Patterson Court, Endeavour Hills $310,000
5. 10 Nixon Court, Roxburgh Park $336,000
 

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS

1. 140 Ross Street, Port Melbourne $1,720,000
2. 1/85 Irving Road, Toorak $1,600,000
3. 2/3 Hillside Crescent, Maribyrnong $1,358,500
4. 4/410 Wattletree Road, Malvern East $1,260,000
5. 2B Mackay Street, Prahran $1,100,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS

1. 6/14-16 Fay Street, Melton $157,500
2. 14/31 Ridley Street, Albion $177,500
3. 13/1-2 Hatfield Court, West Footscray $212,000
4. 2/20-24 Ameily Crescent, Reservoir $297,500
5. 2/23 Scotia Street, Moonee Ponds $318,750

Source: REIV

If the first few weeks of spring sets the tone for the rest of the year then this spring will be one when buyers have good opportunities and vendors achieve healthy results. This is sort of balanced residential auction market Melbourne has not witnessed for a few years.

The clearance rate was 72 per cent, compared to 70 per cent last weekend.

There were 603 auctions reported this weekend with a total of 433 selling and 170 being passed in, 90 of those on a vendors bid.

This weekend last year saw 568 auctions and a clearance rate of 85 per cent.

Over the next fortnight the REIV expects around 1430 auctions.

Enzo Raimondo
CEO REIV 

TOTAL AUCTIONS

This week: 603
Last weekend: 745
This time last year: 568

S Sold at Auction: 362
SB Sold before Auction: 69
SA Sold after Auction: 2

Passed in: 170
Passed in on vendor’s bid: 90

Clearance rate: 72%

Postponed: 0
Withdrawn: 0
Auctions with no result: 94

PS Private Sales: 543

Total Volume (Auctions): $348.27mil
Total Volume (Private Sales): $275.25mil

Total Auctions Houses: 384
Clearance Rate: 70%
Median Price: $721,000
Total Value: $239,390,638

Total Auctions Flats/Apartments: 187
Clearance Rate: 72%
Median Price: $560,000
Total Value: $86,449,500

Total Auctions Vacant Land: 32
Clearance Rate: 91%
Median Price: $382,000
Total Value: $22,432,250

House Sales in Detail

TOP 5 HOUSES

1. 97 Graham Street, Albert Park $2,630,000
2. 4 Davis Street, Kew $2,527,000
3. 68 Head Street, Brighton $2,255,000
4. 5 Weir Street, Kew $1,950,000
5. 12 Barry Street, Kew $1,925,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN HOUSES

1. 26 Weller Street, Geelong West $310,000
2. 4 Wirilda Court, Meadow Heights $320,000
3. 16 Ernest Street, Broadmeadows $330,000
4. 22 Sycamore Street, Mill Park $333,500
5. 11 Aycliffe Drive, Deer Park $358,000
 

Flat/Apartment Sales in Detail

TOP 5 APARTMENTS

1. 19 Acland Street, South Yarra $3,600,000
2. 101 Normanby Road, Kew $1,650,000
3. 16/22-24 Eildon Road, St Kilda $1,556,000
4. 6/17 Sorrett Avenue, Malvern $1,360,000
5. 46 The Crescent, Port Melbourne $1,235,000

TOP 5 BARGAIN APARTMENTS

1. 3/12 View Street, Reservoir $300,000
2. 16/13 Rosedale Avenue, Glen Huntly $300,000
3. 6/31 Dover Road, Williamstown $308,000
4. 3/41 Milton Avenue, Clayton South $311,000
5. 4/6 Vale Street, Pascoe Vale $313,000

Source: REIV

It’s a romantic notion of architecture – to do good. Not in a tree-hugging way, though sustainability has its place.

Nor is it disaster-response architecture. It’s a belief that rekindles a tenet of modernism, that society can be made better through architecture.

Historically it’s the wealthy who have benefited from the spatial and material solutions that architects bring to a design problem, no matter what the scale.

However, a new generation of emerging architects is designing small, often community-based, work, not just iconic structures.

”This is beyond disaster relief,” says Dr Martyn Hook, who recently convened an international symposium on this emerging trend, Affirmative Architecture.

”It’s not about the architect responding to a crisis. This is much more grassroots and straightforward.

It is the idea that the act of the architect in an everyday situation is as critical as creating a monument. It is about the architect saying, ‘We have something useful to offer in the general context.’ ”

Affirmative Architecture provided Melbourne with world-class examples of how architecture can benefit the community.

In Japan, Tezuka architects designed a childcare centre that challenged every rule of building legislation and became a model for learning environments, by adopting a circular plan with freeflowing spaces and an accessible fenced-in roof area.

In South Melbourne, Phooey architects designed a playground using shipping containers that delighted users with its fresh sustainable ideas.

Dr Hook, an associate professor of architecture at RMIT University, identifies the trend in response to a number of events, but also a gradual shift in education and philosophy.

The global financial crisis may have brought it to a head, but it’s been building for some time.

Lessons are being learnt from a post-bubble Japan, and governments in both Britain and the Netherlands encouraging community-based architecture.

And, perhaps as significantly, an Australian education system that fosters a sensitivity to sustainability.

Young, emerging architects have read the writing in the mall. They want to follow the credos of people such as Architecture for Humanity’s Cameron Sinclair to ”design like you give a damn”.

The question is, how can architecture do more? Can it move beyond a bottom-up approach of architects working with the community?

How can the arrangement be mutually beneficial to both the community and architects?

”In Australia there is a massive focus on major projects,” says Dr Hook. ”Melbourne is the city of major projects. Every other week there is a major event and a major project and the opening of a major building. I’m more interested in the minor projects and the minor events that might multiply across a national framework.”

Housing alone, of course, presents a massive opportunity. A March report from the Housing Industry Association estimated the current shortage of 109,000 houses could increase to 466,000 over the next decade.

Dr Hook believes ”Australia is facing a situation where an entire generation of architects is never going to design an affordable house, never be forced to work hard with very little in the public realm … not understand the effect they can have on someone’s life through architecture”.

While there are examples of exemplary architecture – such as Grocon’s Common Ground project, where architect and developer worked at cost – they are few and far between, according to Dr Hook.

”There’s not enough support from government and not enough action from the Australian Institute of Architects,” he says.

”What is needed is consistent government/housing association/developer partnership to actively promote alternative green models of housing.”

Examples of such collaborations can be found in the Netherlands supported by the renowned NAI and in Britain, with the involvement of the highly successful Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

These organisations’ raison d’etre is simply ”improving quality of life through design”.

”We are a wealthy country with a small population, most of whom live in cities, and we have the potential for our cities to be the best in the world,” says Dr Hook.

”Governments at all levels need to understand this fact and seek to improve the quality of the built environment through infrastructure, effective planning and exemplar architecture.”

“Investing in a competition system that promotes young architects to produce good small projects that are socially and environmentally sustainable is a bloody good start.”

It creates a mutually beneficial scenario where, Dr Hook believes, the government would be investing in the future of the profession and the future of its cities and regional centres.

And everyone gets to do good.

Source: The age domain

This two-bedroom Victorian terrace in Clifton Hill received no bids at auction.

Houses are moving but the bidding is restrained.

Spring is just around the corner and Melbourne is waiting with bated breath to see what’s in store. Will the market experience its traditional spring rebound? Will demand keep pace with supply? Above all, what will happen to prices?

At the coalface, there’s no consensus. Patchy, fragmented, uneven — those seem to be the words most often used. Some auctions and some areas are running strong; others are eerily quiet.

“A lot of industry people I’ve been talking to say stock levels are holding up, but they are seeing hesitancy on the part of buyers,” said Craig Dres, chief executive of mortgage brokers Alliance Financial Group.

// “Not as many are putting their hands up and the prices they’re paying are a lot more reserved.”

Historically, the spring market tends to be the most active time of the year and usually delivers the strongest price growth of any quarter. But this time, sentiment, whether it’s among buyers, vendors or agents, seems to be unusually reserved.

There are plenty of potential explanations: the depressive effect of the Reserve Bank’s six interest rate rises; worsening housing affordability; wobbles in the financial markets and persistent fears about the fragility of the international economy; the uncertainty caused by the delays in the outcome of the federal election.

The list goes on. And, yet, there is still plenty to be positive about. Australia’s economy is among the healthiest in the world. Interest rates, while higher, are still comparatively low. Population growth remains robust and there still aren’t enough properties being built to satisfy long-term demand.

On any given week, more than two-thirds of properties are sold at auction and some continue to command solid prices — if they are quality properties.

“I think we’ve just come back to a normal market where we’re not experiencing any real highs or lows,” said Barry Plant agent Niels Geraerts.

“Buyers are prepared to pay a reasonable price for a good property. You’ll get exceptional properties that go for great prices, and the ones that aren’t as good will struggle a little bit.”

Yesterday saw some improvement, with 70 per cent of the 658 properties up for auction selling, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. The clearance rate held up despite a sizeable surge in stock levels, thanks to auctions being deferred because of the election day last weekend.

The current state of the market is only really a griping point if you’re a vendor. Buyers, on the other hand, face a window of opportunity created by all this uncertainty. Take the case of the free-standing weatherboard cottage at 14 Norfolk Street in Yarraville, which sold yesterday for $482,500.

“To buy a quality property under $500,000 is really difficult in the inner city,” said buyer’s advocate Peter Rogozik.

“Six or seven months ago you would have had four to five bidders, but there was only two bidders. The market at the moment is certainly in favour of the buyer.”

In Balwyn, the 1940s-era brick house at 28 Yandilla Street sold for $1.16 million through after-auction negotiations when two bidders failed to hit the reserve. Christopher Russell & Associates said the bidding opened on the quoted price of $900,000 and rose to $1.08 million before the property was passed in.

Janet Spencer of Buyer Solutions fought off one other party to take 64 Cooper Street in Preston, a three-bedroom house that was declared on the market at $761,000 and sold for $765,000.

Bucking the trend, three bidders pushed the sale price of 51 Hill Street in Bentleigh East 33 per cent above the reserve set for the two-bedroom house. Hocking Stuart said the property sold for $1.33 million.

The result was even stronger for the three-bedroom villa residence at 2/722 Orrong Road in Toorak, which Marshall White sold for $1.48 million, off a reserve of $1.1 million, thanks to four bidders.

At the very top end of the market, Jellis Craig Ivanhoe’s director David Oster said a price record was believed to have been set for the suburb at yesterday’s auction of 59 Studley Road. The four-bedroom 1930s house sold for $4.3 million, off a reserve of $3.5 million, with two bidders going tit-for-tat in $100,000 rises.

There are 660 auctions scheduled next weekend.

Source: The age domain