Property market continues its red-hot run
The Age
Monday March 1, 2010
MELBOURNE'S property market has officially begun 2010 with a bang, trading real estate worth a record $1 billion in the past week.The value of properties sold surpassed the previous record $963 million, which was set in mid-December last year, despite 90 fewer houses being offered for auction.Real estate worth more than $700 million was auctioned this week, in what was also the strongest opening month since records began seven years ago.A reported 967 auctions this weekend produced a strong clearance rate of 87 per cent, in a month when the rate remained above 83 per cent. In February last year, the clearance rate failed to pass 77 per cent.Craig Stevens of Jas H Stephens Real Estate reported a 13 per cent rise in property prices in the inner west, selling 6 Agnes Street, Yarraville, which was on the market at $700,000, for $807,000."The property market is just roaring along what started as a grassfire is now a bushfire," he said.Real estate agent Gary Peer reported a record selling price for a property in McKinnon, with 16 Clee Street selling for $2,176,000 after tough competition from five bidders.Buxton Bentleigh's Craig Williamson said his firm set a record for a rear single-level, three-bedroom brick veneer house at 43A Leila Road, Ormond, selling for $910,000.Buyer's advocate Peter Rogozik attended an auction at 153 Grandview Grove, Rosanna, where a two-level, semi-renovated home sold for $996,000, well above December's $670,000 median price for the suburb .Alastair Craig of Jellis Craig noticed high demand for properties within walking distance of schools around Kew and Hawthorn."A little three-bedroom brick veneer home at 15 Johnson Street, Hawthorn sold for $1.211 million and that seems to be the minimum entry price for the area," he said. Buyers' advocate Catherine Cashmore said buyers had to be prepared to pay more.She said a property at 6 Legon Road, Oakleigh South which sold in 2006 for $428,000 sold on Saturday for $715,000.Noel Jones group chairman Adrian Jones said the firm sold a two-bedroom ex-housing commission property at 11 Jackson Street, Richmond, for $917,000, well above the $800,000 reserve.Buyer advocate Michael Ramsay was at the auction of 1E Fulham Avenue, South Yarra, where in 2006 he bought one of a row of townhouses for $893,000. This weekend, one of the townhouses sold for $1.6 million. Real estate worth more than $700 million was auctioned this week.In comparison, during February last year, the clearance rate failed to pass 77 per cent. A reported 967 auctions this weekend produced a strong clearance rate of 87 per cent.
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