Melbourne's upmarket auction update: Plenty of good stock on offer

At 6.00 pm on Saturday 11 October , the James Clearance Rate for Melbourne's $1 million plus property was 66% on the 32 auctions we covered.

Our overall summary of Melbourne's million dollar-plus auctions:

• Ducks (auctions with no bidders): 18%
• Lone Rangers (auctions with one bidder): 18%
• Norms (auctions with two or three bidders): 36%
• Volcanoes (four or more bidders at auction): 28%

Biggest auctions:

• Camberwell, 73 Bowen Street (Paul Richards, Bekdon Richards), under hammer, $3,600,000, 6 bidders.
  
  
  
  Auction of the day: a huge crowd of more than 100 people at the auction of 73 Bowen Street.
  
  
• Hawthorn, 74 Robinson Road (Scott Patterson, Kay & Burton), under hammer, $2,820,000, 4 bidders, pictured below.
  
  
  
  
• Albert Park, 382 Montague Street (Kaine Lanyon, Marshall White), under hammer, $2,750,000, 3 bidders, pictured below.
  
  
  
  382 Montague Street auction shown in main picture.

Bidder buzz:

• Malvern East, 28 Darling Road (Daniel Wheeler, Marshall White), under hammer, $1,391,000, 6 bidders
• Glen Iris, 19 Ashburton Road (Andrew Gibbons, Marshall White), under hammer, $1,910,000, 5 bidders
• Camberwell, 20 Killarra Avenue (Damien Davis, Jellis Craig), under hammer, $1,660,000, 5 bidders

Biggest Pass Ins:

• East Melbourne, 81 Wellington Parade, passed in, $4,000,000, no bidders
• Balwyn North, 48 Tuxen Street, passed in, $3,750,000, no bidders
• Balwyn, 1 Monash Avenue, passed in, $2,775,000, 2 bidders

This article continues on the next page. To read Mal James' market summary, click below.

The post Grand Final market summary trifecta

1. DEMAND
   
   It feels like there should be strong interest prior to the Melbourne Cup for good homes. We have a number of auctions we are bidding on in the next fortnight (but still some vacancies). Open for Inspections for good homes have been crowded and prior to the Grand Final, we have been consistently recording over 2.2 bidders per auction.
2. VENDOR PRICING
   
   Many agents on the selling side are moaning about some vendors opinions on price. We have no issue with that – it's their home – it's a free country – but they are not selling.
   
   While we have bought four in the last week:
   
   • A Toorak off-market apartment (Marcus Chiminello)
   • A Malvern East off-market home (John Manton)
   • A Brighton family home at auction (Regina Schmidt)
   • A South Melbourne apartment at auction (Gary Omrod)
   We have also walked away from several negotiations where we have offered good money and got a reply we couldn't go near.
   
   I went through two on Saturday and walked straight out when told the price. I admire courage but a few sellers right now are into "hero" territory on asking price.
   
   
   Next Week is a Super Saturday and the week after, 25 October, is always expected to be a big one, but is now actually a huge one – as my feeble graph above attempts to show.
   
   
3. SUPPLY
   
   Let's be happy as we are at the highest levels of good quality stock across all price levels, in almost all market segments since May 2010. And the quality spread is very good – I've been to a number of absolutely brilliantly built/renovated homes.
   
   Here are three I have rated but are currently not acting for a buying client on:
   • 11 Malin St Kew (Greg Toogood). James Rating: 783/1000
   • 3 Myamyn Avenue Armadale (Peter Bennison). James Rating: 801/1000
   • A $10m+ old classic in East Melbourne (Jeremy Fox). James Rating 800/1000

It's a little tighter by the Bay for the classics but there is plenty out there. So if you can't find something to tickle your fancy now, then you may have to revisit your fancy or your tickle – there is a lot of good property for sale right now.

 Mal writes weekly auction reports, advice and in-depth market analysis on his website.