Market Commentry April 2018

THERE HAS BEEN PLENTY OF CONJECTURE FROM VARIOUS EXPERTS, PAINTING A SOMEWHAT GRIM PICTURE OF MELBOURNE'S PROPERTY MARKET. LIKE ANY INVESTMENT, THERE ARE POINTS IN THE MARKET WHERE YOUR INVESTMENT HAS A REALIZATION POINT. IN MY OPINION, THE MARKET HAS REACHED A PEAK; OF WHICH EXPERTS HAVE BEEN SPOUTING FOR SOME YEARS THAT EACH YEAR WILL BE THE BUBBLE BURST. BASED ON STATISTICS, CLEARANCE RATES AND SATELLITE MARKETS WITHIN MELBOURNE, MY OBSERVATION HAS BEEN THAT THE MARKET HAS REACHED A LEVELING POINT AND WE WOULD NOT EXPECT TO SEE SIGNIFICANT GROWTH OVERALL, HOWEVER IN CERTAIN MARKET AREAS WHERE LOWER PRICE POINTS ARE AN ATTRACTION SUCH AS OUTER BAYSIDE. THERE WILL BE A STEADY INCREASE IN VALUE AND DEMAND FOR THESE PROPERTIES; THIS OPINON IS BASED ON THE FIRST HOME BUYERS FUELING THE UNDER $600K END OF THE MARKET. OFF THE PLAN AND ESTABLISHED HOME SALES IN THE INNER SUBURBS HAS PROVED TO BE CONSISTANT AND HAS SHOWN A GOOD CLEARANCE RATE ABEIT LOWER THAN THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR. THIS IS A COMBINATION OF BOTH A SHORTAGE OR STOCK PUSHING SOME PRICES UP AND PROPERTIES MARKETED AND PRICED WELL CLEARING UNDER TREATY OR AT AUCTION. IN SUMMARY, WE AS A MARKET ARE TO EXPECT A CONSTANT AT THE RANGE FOR THE OVER-ALL SNAPSHOT AND AS STATED SOME AREAS WILL CONTINUE TO SHOW GROWTH IN RESPECT TO PRICE IN THE LOWER RANGE OF THE MARKET. DEMAND FOR QUALITY BAYSIDE HOMES HAVE INCREASED IN AREAS THAT HAVE BECOME OR ARE BECOMING GENTRIFIED WITH MANY AREAS BEING SUITABLE FOR REDEVELOPMENT. RENTAL MARKETS ARE TIPPED TO REMAIN IN CONSISTENT DEMAND WITH MANY UNABLE TO ENTER THE PROPERTY MARKET, FUELING A BETTER THAN EXPECTED RESULT FOR MANY ASTUTE LANDLORDS. NATURALLY WITH THIS CONSISTENT MARKET AND WITH A DAYS ON MARKET AVERAGE AS AN INDVIDUAL AGENT OF 27 DAYS AND A CLEARNACE RATE OF 100%; RENTAL VACANCY RATE AT 0%. I HAVE SEVERAL POTENTIAL PURCHASERS THAT ARE ACTIVLY SEARCHING FOR A NEW HOME; COMBINED WITH A CONSTANT ENQUIRY OF POTENTIAL TENANTS THAT ARE ALSO LOOKING MAKES THIS MARKET IDEAL FOR TRANSACTIONS AT PRESENT.