Volatility. Meaning?

Morrell and Koren, the 1st buyer's advocatesIf 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 to head decisively up. Or down.

The weekend’s auctions? At the top end, cooling in both Sydney and Melbourne — and not widely reported.

Extremities:

  • An inner-Melbourne property that months ago was being quoted at what we believed was a laughable $12 million … sold. Who’s laughing now?
  • Two very large transactions last week — one had its agent sipping tea in the corner, the other’s agent was missing in action — where buyers and sellers quietly worked out what worked for everyone. Way to go.
  • An agent crowing publically about his Great Big Transaction while both buyers and sellers believe there’s hardly a rule in the book which hasn not been broken and ethics played no part. Expect very big city lawyers with drawn quills.
  • 20 Hawksburn Road Sold on Saturday for $4.195 million (did you hear that, REIV? — sales results . It’s the kind of information that buyers need to make sensible decisions).  $4.195 million is more than a fair hike over the similar property next door — it sold late last year for close to a million less.

You can’t fool all of the people all of the time

We’re now on first name terms with a couple we met on four occasions over the weekend. We ended up playing “I’ve seen a bigger under-quote than you have.”

They were up against professionals, so that wasn’t a fair contest but some of their experiences were all too common.

One was the agent who persuaded them to bid at an auction with the promise of a price no higher than $3.5 million. It sailed past $4 million.

Will they ever trust that agent again?

Would they ever hire him to sell on their behalf?

Will they tell their friends?

Feet. Holes in feet.

Too many agents shoot themselves in their own feet far too often.

David Morrell

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