July 2. Buy Shares in Panadol!

What a crazy weekend! Clearly some vendor?s expectations are getting ahead of themselves. 4 Scotsburn Avenue, Toorak, was a classic example of an over-ambitious vendor who paid $2.3 million for the property three years ago, saw a genuine bid on Saturday of $4 million made a vendor bid of $4.5 million and held to a reserve of $5 million. Over 100% in three years? We doubt it. You do the math: 10,000 square feet at $400 per foot and a little for a house that isn?t that good would be reasonable. This property risks being the bridesmaid for quite some time.

100% over reserve?

Yes. Someone paid more than 100% over the vendor?s reserve at 18 Crossman Court, Flinders. This would have to have been the silliest auction we have seen in over 30 years in real estate. $4,575,000 against a reserve of $2.1 million when the property was bought for $700,000 a few years ago? Come on. But it shows what two egos can do in an auction environment. The next day the winner must have woken up in a foetal position and the loser would be counting his misfortune as the luckiest day in his life!

The start of school holidays brought fewer offerings and we did notice that the heat was out in some cases. 46 Ewart Street, Malvern, a good family home close to Malvern Primary School which should have had 5-10 bidders saw a lacklustre auction with just three bidders and the property selling for $1,520,000 against a $1.5 million reserve. It’s a good sign from the perspective of buyers, but was short-lived; a few hours later 7 Ardrie Road, Malvern East (with a Melbourne Cup field of bidders) sold for $1,995,000 – $400,000 above expectations. A double fronted weatherboard on a small block of land in Malvern East, this sale confirms our belief that the public will bid strongly for something that is totally done up and ready, rather than having to renovate themselves.

Another example was 29 Park Road, Middle Park ? a single fronted brick home which sold for $2,285,000 against a $1.8 million expectation on land of only 300 square metres.

Our tip for the next few weeks? Take a Panadol as nothing will really happen until the end of the school holidays.

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