There is much discussion around what property prices may do due to COVID. Whilst residential house prices seem to be holding, the same may not be true for apartments, especially those in the CBD. Director, Robert Allanadale has had a look at the factors affecting this market and asks ‘is it time to buy a CBD apartment’?

So what impact did the stockmarket crash and COVID-19 have on property? Director, Robert Allandale, in his blog back in March, had a look at the possible impacts. How did it all match up?

In another installment of ‘What the Agents are saying’, Rob looks at what the impact of COVID-19 continues to play, and what the latest changes mean to vendors, agents and purchasers.

Domain Advice Editor, Daniel Butkovic, spoke with Tower Property Director, Robert Allanadale, about selling amid the current COVID-19 climate…

Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne have impacted every industry - Rob has had a closer look into what challenges are facing the real estate industry - and what a vendor can do about it.

COVID cliff? Spring-back? Or something else?

Where are we now? And what are the experts telling us? And what will happen after Job-keeper winds up?

Despite challenging conditions, house prices are holding up surprisingly well…for now…

Since our last blog, it appears that we may be starting to see some light at the end of the Coronavirus tunnel.

It is pleasing to see that the rate of infection with Covid-19 in Australia is remaining relatively stable at very low levels. With limited community spread, the lockdown is finally beginning to ease. Several states have been reporting zero daily infections and the push is now for state borders and the trans-Tasman border to reopen, and for domestic economic activity to ramp back up.

The stock market is down, unemployment is up, and the country is on Government life support during lockdown.

But what’s happening to the property market?

It’s hard to believe that only four weeks ago, our stock market was close to an all-time high, and auctions were drawing record crowds and prices.

As you are well aware, stock markets have plummeted with panic selling, the world is heading for global lockdown and the news on COVID-19 gets worse every day.

Each quarter we survey a number of real estate agents across Melbourne for their views on the current property market and what they expect in the next three months.

In our last survey, they made the gutsy call of a 4-5% price increase for the December quarter. Guess what - they were right!

The average Melbourne property price rose by 5% to $901,951 according to Domain.

But can this move be repeated or even sustained?

Read on to see what the agents are predicting for the March quarter.

As 2019 rapidly comes to a close, we thought it would be worthwhile to look at what might be in store for the Melbourne property market in 2020.

We do this on the back of the current state of the property market and the economic factors that got us here, namely:

·         Property supply remains low, as vendors are holding off selling hoping for higher prices to come. Although agents report some increase in listings over the traditionally busy Spring period, supply continues to fall well short of demand. As an example, anyone looking to purchase a house in the popular suburb of Carnegie at the beginning of November, would have only found six properties to choose from;

·         Bank lending policy has relaxed in favour of borrowers with the recent loosening of credit lending criteria;

·         The October 0.25% cut to the RBA cash rate to a historic low of 0.75% has further reduced borrowing costs; and

·         Demand is more robust than it was in the first half of 2019, with the popularity of auctions returning and clearance rates above 70% week-to-week.

Source: DANIEL BUTKOVICH ADVICE EDITOR, DOMAIN OCT 16, 2019

Director Robert Allanadale recently spoke with Domain. Read the full article here.

We survey a number of real estate agents across Melbourne for their views of the current residential property market, and what they expect for the rest of the year.

Our June survey accurately picked the bottom of the market where we said:

 ‘we may be at a turning point in the current property market, at least in the short term’.

Our survey suggests that the market will continue to improve, but not all areas will perform equally.

We hope you find this of benefit to you or your clients who are considering buying or selling property in the foreseeable future.

We survey a number of real estate agents across Melbourne for their views of the current residential property market, and what they expect in the next 3-6 months.

Picking the top or a bottom of any market is always difficult, but our survey suggests that we may be at a turning point in the current property market, at least in the short term.

We hope you find this of benefit to you or your clients who are considering buying or selling property.

We survey a number of real estate agents across Melbourne for their views of the current residential property market, and what they expect in the next 6 months. We find this a more accurate guide than relying on the published property statistics which deal in averages when there are in fact many different property markets across Melbourne.

We hope you find this of benefit to you or your clients who are considering selling property.

It’s all doom and gloom in the property press with some experts predicting a 40%-50% fall from their peak in residential property values in Melbourne and Sydney in the next 12 months.

Are we on the cusp of a property crash like the 1990’s ‘recession we had to have’, or is this just a pause after a strong rise and prices will soon stabilise and resume their upward trend?

There is so much to learn when transitioning yourself or a family member into Aged Care. From facilities and vacancies to the complexities of DAPs and RADs. One aspect that is often not taken into consideration is the fact that a high percentage of people have to sell their home to fund the transition.

We’ve all heard the agents’ mantra, “Position, Position, Position”, but what is the point of marketing a well located home when buyers are turned off by its poor presentation?

Sure, some buyers may jump at the challenge of securing the location regardless, but without good presentation, competition for the property will be lessened, buyers that are interested will simply reduce the price they are prepared to pay, and the property will be undersold. All for the sake of what - $10,000 or $20,000 spent on paint, a few repairs, a bit of landscaping and some staged furniture? A properly managed outlay like this can easily see a four of five-fold return.

In a recent chat with Robert Allanadale, Director and Founder of Tower Property Advisory, he told us about a woman he met a number of years ago and her unfortunate experience with a real estate agent.

If you have a property in Melbourne that you are looking to sell, your main objective will be to sell it quickly and to sell it for the highest price possible. However, there are a number of things that you need to take into consideration when selling in order to achieve this.

1. Presentation - major items

When selling your own home, if it is well presented, it will appeal to more buyers. This leads to greater competition for your property and a higher sale price.

It is therefore important to understand who the likely buyers will be on your property, then ‘get the balance right’ with presentation work. There are a couple of things to consider...