Oversupply of vacant land on Mornington Peninsula: HTW residential

Oversupply of vacant land on Mornington Peninsula: HTW residential
Staff reporterDecember 7, 2020

Over the past six months, there has been a continuing slow decline in the south-eastern Melbourne property market, according to the latest Herron Todd White (HTW) residential report. 

The report suggests that values have continued to drop and it is likely the market is yet to bottom.

For the inner suburbs such as Bentleigh East and Hampton, there are still a vast amount of townhouse developments popping up despite the large fall in prices over the past year.

"These higher value suburbs are often hardest hit in declining markets," the valuation firm stated. 

On the peninsula, estate agents are getting creative with their sales tactics.

The report notes that this was evident in a sale via auction on 4 May 2019 at 16 Jetty Road, Dromana (pictured below). 

The real estate agent employed an unusual tactic to ensure the best result.

He announced the owner’s reserve price prior to the auction, which resulted in the auction lasting only 60 seconds, with the winning bid being the $1.25 million reserve, according to source: realestate.com.au.

The purchaser was from the eastern suburbs, suggesting a sea-change or perhaps an intention to use the property as a holiday home.

Vacant land has not fared well over the past 12 months as there is an oversupply and purchasers are struggling to obtain finance.

Many developers are offering incentives such as offering to pay building deposits.

"In contrast, the unit market has remained resilient in the outer south-east and the peninsula," the valuation firm said. 

"This is largely due to units being at the lower end of the market and appealing to investors and first home buyers."

On the peninsula, there are a few properties which are managing to buck the trend.

8 Mills Beach Close, Mornington sold for $200,000 more than its 2017 purchase price and sold within two weeks of being placed on the market for $1,575,000.

The purchaser resided in Shepparton and purchased the property for a sea-change.

A recent report named the suburbs that banks consider to be the riskiest in terms of lending (based on unsuccessful loan applications).

"The majority of high risk suburbs were located in the outer south-east being: Clyde North, Clyde, Cranbourne, Botanic Ridge, Tooradin, Blind Bight and Warneet.

"This can potentially lead to the banks selling up the properties or vendors being forced to accept a lower offer to avoid becoming bankrupt," the valuation firm said. 

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