The Spring Racing Carnival is well underway and the papers are filled with fixed races.
Which must be about the worst news the TAB could hear. Who in their right mind puts their money into a dishonest race?
And the Spring Real Estate Carnival is (or should be) in full swing, but there’s little an errant jockey could teach some in our industry about how to fix a race.
Which could be about the worst news the REIV could hear – if they were listening.
It’s still going on. Agents buying listings by promising sellers the impossible then luring buyers to auctions by suggesting that they’re in the running – knowing that all they’ll be is window-dressing.
But a kind of justice is being done. There’s at least one rogue agency which is becoming so notorious that people are crossing the street to avoid them.
Yes. It’s costing them business. They are destroying their own brand. And let us pray that continues until they are driven out of business.
The weekend’s races?
Some bolters, some still running.
Some with prices still fixed where they were a year ago and in the stalls they’ll stay.
Some which will need to improve before punters show interest.
And the rare entrants which tick all the price/performance boxes and are not around for long.
In this, the “slow” quarter, we have bought more top end property than in any of the past 15 years, so they are out there. There have been sales at levels not seen in a long time, but at discounts over initial expectations which have run into multi-millions.
And it’s more private, more civilized.
Except for some.
The Next Big Thing? October 27. Tattslotto Weekend. A few winners, some serious losers – those that won’t sell because they are just not good enough.
David Morrell
Bayside: Gallop? Trot? Walk?
Horses, horses, everywhere and every runner a hoper.
The impending Super Saturday has a whole lot of industry hopes riding on it. The worry beads are out. There are queues outside the soothsayers.
And, contrary to some rose-coloured views, there’s no great cause for optimism. The weekend’s 62% success rate at auction is hardly going to trouble the Guinness Bros. – and that’s likely to slip to 60% when all results are in.
Locally? Little cause for joy.
Bentleigh, 36%, the Brightons, 40%
Hampton did better and Black Rock had a staggering 100% (on all of three properties).
Hampton’s single stumble was 10 Rouen Street – passed in on a real bid of $1.525 million which was, apparently, far short of the odds. Reserve? Big secret. Afraid they’ll scare the horses?
Winners?
- 19 Olive Street. $1.611 million
- 38 Margarita Street. $1.515 million
- 16 Foam Street. $1.260 million
Bentleigh’s five sold from fourteen offered is out of character. If that continues it might suggest that concerns about employment are starting to bite.
And in Brighton there was a lesson in quality. 13 Downes Avenue is beautifully positioned and renovated. Northerly rear garden and overlooking a captivating public park. Three hands in the air took it past its quoted $3 million plus, past its $3.2 million reserve and on to a finish at $3.6 million.
Quality will out. Always does.
Damian Taylor
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