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The weather (you may have noticed this) has finally caught up with the calendar. The agents have departed for appointments with glasses of the mysterious served under cute umbrellas, schools have emptied and a great deal of not very much is predicted for weeks to come. And all those outstanding Expressions of Interest attempts? Get out […]

Where have all the deals gone? Last week saw Expressions of Interest closing here, there and everywhere, resulting in… Silence, mostly. Hardly a peep from the agents and rarely a SOLD sign to be seen. Those which we closed were almost all behind closed doors and that’s the way they must remain; but the rest

It’s problematic to generalise about where markets are heading. In real estate, especially at the top end when rarity becomes a factor, there are markets within markets. Over recent weeks — coinciding with Melbourne’s record-breaking Indian Summer — a Summer-like market has continued well into Autumn. Volumes usually unheard of at this time of year,

Life at the top end has rarely been more interesting (OK, unpredictable), but all the arguments eventually turn around the single constant: It’s the money. Supply, demand, vendors, buyers, agents, expats, OS interest, the budget, the interest rates, who got out on the right side of the bed, whether the lawn was mowed, the weather,

If every sale was taken as an indication of a trend there would be an awful lot of changes in direction out there. We’re seeing a lot which are running wide of expectations: both over and under. The message at the top end? Volatility is high. And that often precedes a market which is about

Easter came, Easter went and suddenly it was like the drinks were on the house in the pub with no beer. The bar was chokkas. Where the choice had been a couple of tired lemons, there was at last reason for some excitement. At $4-5 million, for instance, there were seven on offer: two AAA’s

… so headlined The Financial Review. They’re talking about Sydney, but it’s also mostly true for Melbourne. That said, there is also a kind of reckoning going on. Down on the coast there were some vendors who found happiness over the past few weeks, but there are more who are still waiting for that elusive

When the vendor’s mother spies her son’s best friend bidding right up to the reserve it’s reasonable to have doubts. Dummy bidder? Surely not. Hamish had been to several inspections. Even the agents thought he was a hot prospect. And we’re seeing more and more of it in the Melbourne auction scene (what’s going on

If there is a single indicator that sums up everything that can be known about a property it is that five-letter word: Price. Price reflects everything: place, quality, size, amenity, the mood, Outside Forces, a buyer’s ability to pay… Even what Mr Putin may have planned. Yet eventually only the buyer decides. Not vendors with

… don’t. Those suitcases full of millions arriving at our airports to snap up trophy homes at record prices. You’ve read all about it. It’s all over the papers. But at times strangely absent come settlement day. Evidence? A certain trophy on St Georges Road is back on the market. Buyer-paid-too-much-cold-feet? One property does not