Land is real estate’s most objective litmus test; and never more than among the AAAs over the last couple of weeks.
It’s beyond red. Think Dayglo.
Adjoining properties at Anderson Street and Domain Road. An EOI that put them together. 28,000 sq ft. Some heritage issues. Some price: $33m.
And a Dayglo red flag for buyers: there were 20 interested parties. That’s a mountain of interest with mountains to spend.
Take a step down the ladder to Ottawa Road. Had been sitting on the shelf for months and suddenly moves for $10.25m. An OK price and a sale probably stimulated by what’s been happening above it.
A couple more steps down the ladder brings you to sub-$6m, and it’s still hot. Homes in good positions going for 20% over reserve.
Sargood Street at $5m on a reserve of $4.2m. Same for needs-a-heap-of-work at Linda Crescent, Hawthorn.
Choice? Still plenty of lemons slowly ageing on the trees. Yes, there are buyers, but they’re not picking rotting fruit.
So choice is again the big issue. Lots of talk among the agents about the glorious offerings they’ll have post-Easter but their credibility is around the level of the rants of one D Trump of the United States.
While Chinese buyers haven’t been seen in any numbers since November, puzzled ex-pats are now wandering the For Sale boards — puzzled because no-one seems to want their hard-earned US Dollars.
For the moment at least, the local market is local.
Imagine that.