Sunday Blog

Buyers have become trained to ask for off-markets, putting an unwarranted value on them. They do this in the hope that they’re getting access to something secret and undervalued. But what happens if the property isn’t a secret, and isn’t good value?

Despite opinion about the stage three tax cut, we have to consider how it could impact our property market. Like all cash incentives and net cashflow hikes, markets do get impacted.

As the year draws to a close, I reflect on the many changes to housing that have resulted since the pandemic. This past eighteen months has also thrown us many challenges as we grapple with the impact of inflationary pressures on our lives. The Reserve Bank’s cash rate hikes have played their part too, as…

Yesterday I received a call from a great journalist. He was covering Melbourne’s auction results and asked me to weigh in on a significant result in Brunswick East. The house reportedly sold for some one million dollars above reserve. Once I checked the listing, this record-breaking figure for its land size was no shock to…

I remember when this practise was ruled out by new legislation. Much of 2002 and 2003’s newsfeed covered the reasons for the crackdown, including citing fines for those caught dummy bidding (or arranging dummy bidders). Agents wondered how the declaration of “vendor bid” would impact auctions, and at the time I recall a broad commitment…

I get asked this question a lot. In fact, one of my students asked me specifically how a corner site compared to a regular site when we were conducting comparable sales analysis in class. The answer is… it depends. A corner site has it’s challenges, but it has pro’s too. It all depends on the…

As the selling season approaches it’s close for year, what can we anticipate in 2024?

We’ve all been hearing about the rental crisis. A depleted supply of rental properties is not meeting current demand. Queues for newly advertised rental properties are long, often wrapping around blocks. Rents have been rising aggressively since the pandemic, and unfortunately it doesn’t look like the situation will improve for a very long time. Several…

I’ve written about off-markets plenty of times, and in particular, the allure of off-markets. After all, many buyers think that a buyers agent is a ticket to a train of great off-market properties. The reality is, not all off-markets are good. In fact, right now, most are poor quality. From mirage off-markets that ultimately run…