James Auction Pulse
Melbourne June 20th & 21st, 2009
Auctions We Reviewed Clearance rate: 81% from 16 properties to auction
Our office is still open for business but, because of school holidays and limited stock, there will be no James Market News until 11 July.
Last Week.
Stock levels are forcing buyers to do what they don’t want to do - pay more than eight weeks ag

Brighton: 7 Cosham Street. Six sluggish bidders dragged kicking and screaming to a result $500,000 over quote at a tick under $3 million. Auctioneer Peter Kennett with Rod Richardson.
James Reviewed Auctions Clearance Rates (Show/Hide)
REIV Reported Clearance Rates (Show/Hide)

Hawthorn; 19 Oak: Once bitten, twice shy. Same auction result as a few weeks ago. Zip.

Glen Iris: 45 Scott. Auctioneer Andrew Hayne congratulates the winning bidders.
Market Insight
Camberwell Golf Links Estate: it is cold and the home needs renovation. So, a quiet auction? Well, 120 people showed up and 5 Marlborough sold for $1.302 million with four bidders. Marshall White's Mark Dayman, Stephen Gough and Joe Muinos presiding.
|
There was a real loathing from buyers today as they did what they had to - pay more than eight weeks ago.Mal James 0408 107 988 Principal Buyer Agent It's 6pm Saturday and we have been to 16 auctions (less than usual because there is a real shortage of $1 million-plus auctions that are worthwhile covering) and the James Clearance rate is 81 per cent. Please note our Chinese translation and Wormy to the right (our price opinion and a general guide to trends over $1 million-plus, nothing more.) The dominating issue of the week is stock levels. Iain Carmichael, a respected 20-year-plus veteran and director of Bennison Mackinnon, said today that this market has the lowest levels of stock, at the top end, in his memory. James Redfern of Marshall White, also an agent of 20-years-plus, agrees and adds that prices are rising and, although we are not quite back to the peak, we seem like we will get there soon. Jeremy Fox, director of RT Edgar, says buyers are starting to get stressed. How long do you wait? Do you pay up now or sit it out and hope prices will drop, which he adds, no longer looks like happening any time soon. He then mentioned two properties as evidence: 43a Berry St East Melbourne, a brand-new family home, quoted and on the market at $2.2 million, sold for $2.7 million; and 760 Drummond St Carlton (see our rating below), a terrace in need of significant renovation (we estimated would cost up to $800,000) and no car park. It was quoted and on the market at $1.1 million and sold for more than $1.8 million. Let's focus on the demand and supply equation. Why are stock levels so short? Well, first and foremost, the GFC has squashed the natural flow of the market and we are now in a Joseph Heller Catch 22 situation. The Catch 22 theory is "If you went to war, you were crazy and therefore you didn't have to go; but if you said you didn't want to go to war, you were sane and therefore had to go to war." At the moment, potential sellers do want to buy. They need a place to live, but they can't find anything to buy, therefore they are not selling. There needs to be selling pressure to act but with interest rates so low and now a rapidly improving market (from a sellers view), there is the opposite pressure on sellers and that pressure is to hold. This means more and more buyers (eg overseas influences plus natural increases) are looking at less and less stock, therefore, through demand and supply, pushing prices up further. As prices continue to go up, the "pressure" on sellers to hold increases and even less stock is made available in the established homes $1 million-plus market. Catch 22. Further insights Increasing demand: (2) If I hear how expensive Melbourne homes are one more time, I will go heee. Expensive compared to what? Certainly not to Chinese buyers. These are notes supplied from Su our translator.
(3) Another interesting point re demand pressures was from Peter Kennett at Hocking Stuart:
|
![]() Not sure we have noticed a builder shortage, but we will do some research over the next month. Decreasing Supply: (2) More blocks of land needed for apartment living There are some other issues out there in Million Dollar Melbourne that relate to stock levels. Buyer stress Today the bidding process at auctions was sluggish - in many cases, it was not spirited and people tended to be grim-faced rather than excited. There's a feeling that people are loath to pay the prices being fetched at auction because they don't want to acknowledge that the market is rising, that the market has changed. But they're also accepting (being forced) that they have to put their hand up, otherwise they will miss out. People are realising that properties won't be falling in value any time soon, nor will they be falling into people's laps for a cheap pre-Christmas 2008 price today. Old stock When the market is rising, don't overlook old stock - properties that have been on the market for some time and that may seem stale. Properties tend to go stale generally for price reasons. But if the asking price has dropped or the market goes up or both, does that not then negate that price reason? Older properties are selling in this market. In the past week, we're aware of six sales where the houses had been on the market for quite some time: one for eight months, one for six months and one for four months and so on. Properties in Balwyn, Hawthorn, Toorak, Malvern East and so on. Most were good houses and some received exceptionally high ratings from us, so it was simply a matter of matching price expectations with the market and then these properties sold. All of these have sold this week and all well over a million dollars; eg 53 Kinkora, 11 Crest, 4a Macgregor, 11 Torresdale and so on. This is also a sign of a rising market. We bought old stock this past week. Yes, there is off-market, alerts and the auctions, but buying good homes is not all about a need for speed. To buy well, you need to look at all options. A big thank you to Peter Small, director of Urbis, for his Another Point of View interview. Thank you for the incredible response to our TV videos. Please keep saying hello at auction - we like it. If you know anybody who wants to be an auction reporter, please let us know. You need to be able to use a camera, have a car and it's paid. We are looking to expand our auction coverage and we can't get to the outer areas, as well as bid and report on inner city auctions. One more thing - of course, it's a Saturday job. Please contact adam@james.net.au. Architect Adam's article this week is on Andrew James's Gasgoine gem up for auction this coming weekend. And, finally, a big thank you to editor Melinda Brown who helped greatly in putting together this edition of Market News. Buy Well Mal |
PROVISIONAL RATING
PROVISIONAL RATING
PROVISIONAL RATING

Kew: 76 Adeney. There is that whiteboard again. A real effort for Jellis Craig's Richard Earle to get one of the five bidders over the line at $1.772 million.

Hawthorn East: 10 Clive St. Auctioneer Richard James gives his all. Sold for $1.333 million.
WEEKEND AUCTIONS AT A GLANCE
There are two requirements to use this map search.
1. Your browser must be javascript enabled
2. You need to have at least flash player 9 installed. You can click here in order to download it.

Tim Picken: You know with all these auctions and signatures today I think I have done a nail. Oooh! need to get that fixed.

Richmond: 68 Stawell St. Cold, wintry and 100 people. That's right, 100 people. Sold for $1.11 million. Another Stephen Gough result.
Boroondara
There are two requirements to use this map search.
1. Your browser must be javascript enabled
2. You need to have at least flash player 9 installed. You can click here in order to download it.
Hawthorn: 13-15 Harrison Crescent. Quote $1 million. Vendor reserve $1 million. Opening bid $1.1 million. Sold for $1.52 million. Auctioneer - Bruce Severns of Noel Jones.
|
Covering Hawthorn, Kew, Canterbury and Camberwell $1m+ homesAdam Woledge 0413 318 079 Registered Architect & Principal Buyer Agent Some parts of the market may have risen by more than 10 per cent and up to 15 per cent in eight weeks, says Tim Picken of Jellis Craig. By the way, we saw Tim sell three from three very strongly and all well above his quotes. But we digress. To be honest, we are not batting at 100 at James on home estimates in this rising market. 9 Carrington Hawthorn. This home told us just how few timber double-fronted period homes are available in Hawthorn and how much people still like them. Last year, this would have struggled at under $1.4 million, but it was a superior offering, so would still have sold. Today, it got $1.685 million and it was not a surprise to us. Brick versions of this in Malvern and Armadale have been on fire for around two months and selling well over expectations. Couple this with the Leslie St Hawthorn sale last week - not as good a home or position and it went mid-$1.3 million - add the facts that it reset the benchmark, that there were multiple unsatisfied buyers, that this had great rear access, was sexy and that the market is moving north, and a final price of $1.5 to $1.6 million had to happen. Above that, add emotion and this was an emotional home and auction. Well done to the buyer. 13-15 Harrison Hawthorn. The quote was not accurate for buyers ($1.05 million) but we were still surprised by the result ($1.53 million). This was a compromised block of land and, no matter how you look at it, a difficult build. It's a further $1 million to $1.5 million to build a home(s), with underground car park and you will still have no back yard. The land value works out at $2567 per sq metre and that's higher than Blytheswood at $2396 per sq metre with views and a bigger block only a few weeks ago. It's also higher than Kay and Burton's very strong Muir St sale at $1.6 million or $2534 per sq metre, which was next to the river and sold only a month of two ago. Bruce Severns of Noel Jones, who is a good guy, texted us these thoughts after we questioned him about the sale: Anything that is in a good location and/or has a good home on it is keenly contested. That's agent code for the market is almost flying. The above was a very strong result for the seller by any criteria. 5 Marlborough Camberwell. Golf Links Estate. We like the area but found the back of the home needed a big, big fix and it wasn't an easy reno; plus |
![]() Issue of the week: stock levels Tim Picken went on to say that there seems to be a fantastic energy in today's market. He said there was some buyer urgency coming back - that is agent code for buyer stress, which means potential for rapidly rising prices. He added that nobody wanted to write a cheque three months ago on homes (and he added he was nervous as well), but now the market has changed and changed dramatically. Richard Winneke, Jellis Craig's top-selling agent for a number of years running, made these observations over a quick chat in the street. He was surprised at the high sale for Carrington, claiming that "it may not even have sold for that much back in the peak price times of 2007." For certain properties, the market has definitely bounced back. James Redfern of Marshall White gave us his take: if a home ticks the boxes and has no compromises, then we are almost back at the peak; however, the market is not behaving as it was in 2007 where keen buyers were actually crazy buyers. James feels there is still a rational market and buyers are in control and will not exceed certain levels. He added another gem: it's the estate sales or top precincts that are really pushing back up hard. Grace Park, Golf Links, Tara, Reid, Armadale and so on. This is a fresh observation and rings true in our mind. This week at auction 31 Rockingham St Kew. Interested to see if the Top End market responds to this offering. With 21 Ross St Kew selling north of $4 million but 17 Grange Road Kew (asking around $5 million) still remaining unsold, we think the $4 million to $5 million market has a few wobbles but this auction may help clarify things. 2a Oak Hawthorn. Wonder if Marshall White will adjust their quote after the sale across the road at Harrison Crescent today? 9 Boronia Canterbury. Another land indicator in Canterbury's Golden Mile fringe. Pricing Wormy is on the juice and firing upwards in Boroondara Design Smart |
PROVISIONAL RATING
Bayside
There are two requirements to use this map search.
1. Your browser must be javascript enabled
2. You need to have at least flash player 9 installed. You can click here in order to download it.

Brighton: 10 Murphy St. Let us tell you a story about the buyer, she was eating porridge in Sydney this morning having not seen the home, then she had a feeling. Read on.
|
Covering Albert Park, St Kilda, Elwood, Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham $1m+ homesMal James 0408 107 988 Principal Buyer Agent Hocking Stuart's Peter Kennett stated he had four auctions today and 18 bidders in total. Let Hocking Stuart's Barb Gregory tell us about the story of the lady in Sydney who, on Saturday morning, was eating porridge when she had a thought about 10 Murphy St Brighton. This is a home she had seen on the internet but NOT in real life. Anyway, she had a feeling, so she ordered a plane ticket, drove to the Sydney airport, landed at Tullamarine, caught a taxi to the auction where she met some friends. She put her hand up at auction, beat off another bidder and bought the home ($3.5m). She caught the 3pm flight back to Sydney. Absolutely true story, says Barb. Big sales We talked about $3 million sales last week and three in Brighton. This week, there were five reported around the $3 million mark, with the largest being 28 Cole St, believed to be just over $5 million. The Golden Mile is showing few signs of seller stress and 10a Dawson, also Golden Mile but a townhouse, sold for a tick under $2.9 million. Both sales were by Kay and Burton and Stewart Lopez and his team seems to be starting to take it up to Dixon's in the high-end areas again. 2 Lorac Avenue with James Paynter of Buxton sold at auction for $3.475 million. That was a very good seller result. The home was an interesting design on a very difficult triangular block and had a Bali feel, brought in a lot of north light and, because of shape, gave good separation of rooms. Not for me, but I thought it was smart designing. The two Hocking Stuart $3 million-plus auction sales gave us good insights into the Bayside market. 10 Murphy Brighton - sold under the hammer for $3.5 million. Not a booming auction, with 2 bidders, it was on the market at $3.4 million and sold under the hammer. This, we think, confirms that the old Gardenvale - North Brighton is a $3 million-plus new home destination. BUT PLEASE NOTE that is only for the bigger homes that lie within a few hundred metres of North Road in streets such as Foote, Drake and Murphy. 7 Cosham Brighton - sold with six bidders for $2.97 million or $3,000 per sq metre for north-facing premium Brighton land (not on the Golden Mile). House value was zip. The unsold but beautiful 23 and 25 Cosham Streets are now confirmed in our minds as north of $5 million based on home quality and proven land value. We are not ignoring Albert Park to Elwood along the bay but so little is happening - they must have the fittest, thinnest, leanest agents going around, as there has been so few sales of note this year. One result this week at $2.75 million at a Chisholm and Gamon auction was for a block of older style flats on 450 sq metres of land at 32 Vautier St Elwood. Issue of the week Is Peter Kennett the best big-time auctioneer going around Bayside? Don't know if we could rule out Hocking Stuart's other Twin Tower, Steve Tickell from Sandringham, or if |
![]() If you can get past the Hocking Stuart blurb, you will also find Peter Kennett an interesting man and, while having a latte at Bay Street's Pod (great coffee), he outlined some thoughts. Do you agree with them?
Coming up this week 40 Elwood Brighton: It's a south-facing rear, it's a townhouse, it's only got three bedrooms, but we think this home has a really great feel about it and therefore should sell well. Justin Follett from Kay and Burton is handling it and he is on fire at the moment in the selling stakes, so let see what happens. We're interested in this one for telling us how the market is viewing feel vs issues right now. It is a good home. 66 Black Brighton: Land sale in the heart of Brighton. South-facing land but it is on the high side of the street. James Paynter of Buxton is handling it and, although it is no wider than an average block (15.4m), luxury homebuyers prefer 18+m frontages, it should sell. James is quoting $2000 per sq metre, so its sale price will give us a pointer to Church Street land values and his quotes. Prices Wormy our Price Worm has a headache and he doesn't want to go up but he has to. It's not the amount of stock, it's the amount of quality stock and other Inner Melbourne prices that are forcing Bayside Wormy to catch up. Footnote: Ian Jackson has left JP Dixon, just after we gave him a big wrap in the last week or so. He is a James Market News favourite for his friendly banter, generous sharing of knowledge and the fact that you can shake hands on a deal and he sticks to it. We will miss him for now, hopefully he isn't lost to Golden Mile Brighton for too long. Buy Well |
PROVISIONAL RATING
Stonnington
There are two requirements to use this map search.
1. Your browser must be javascript enabled
2. You need to have at least flash player 9 installed. You can click here in order to download it.

Malvern East: 55 Ardrie Road. Lovely day for a quiet auction. Trouble was 120 people showed up with six bidders and it sold for $1.21 million against an $850,000+ quote. Tim Derham of Abercrombys was directing traffic.
|
Covering Toorak, Malvern, Armadale, South Yarra, Caulfield and Elsternwick $1m+ homesKristen Hatt 03 9804 3133 Buyer Advocate Andrew McCann of Bennison Mackinnon says we are now very close to 2007 prices. Apartments Big Sales 55 Ardrie Malvern East: The Ardrie Park area is a precinct to watch. We remember buying a little single-fronted in Repton Road (around the corner) post-auction for $600,000 only a few years ago. Today, we saw five bidders fight it out to more than $1.2 million for a double-fronted home that needed a big reno. But the buyers were smart. North-facing rear, good feel to home, across the road is an almost completed French Provincial (worth north of $2.5 million?), the tram is 100 metres away and access to the fantastic Ardrie Park just across the road. Speaking of roads, what a beautiful olde English type street Ardrie is. Don't worry about the price, this was a great buy - well done to whoever it was. Tim and Michael Derham of Abercrombys managed the sale and managed it well - except the usual courageous quote. We required two quick visits on the same day and they accommodated at short notice - good agent work. 55 Ardrie confirms to us the young renovator |
![]() 68a Clendon Toorak: Nicolas Day home. Auction report: "A huge crowd of 150 people turned up to this auction but just one bidder was prepared to play. The bidder opened proceedings with a $5.6 million bid but, with no further bids eventuating, the property was passed in." This auction was to tell us if the jury is still out on $5 million-plus homes. It still is out. Stock levels are the issue in Stonnington. Jeremy Fox, director of RT Edgar, says he has almost nothing in his forward auction book for the 8th, 15th and 22nd of August weekends. He says the Top End $5 million-plus market is still not moving like other markets but there are both buyers and sellers, so it's not interest but price discrepancies that are holding things up. He re-emphasised buyer frustrations: do you go now or wait and is waiting going to mean lower prices? Jeremy says no, because there is little stock coming on. Andrew McCann, director of Bennison Mackinnon says there is no pressure for sellers to sell and August auctions are looking very quiet. He says sellers are still watching the market. Finally he doesn't see Spring homes flooding the market and dropping prices and, even if there is an increase in stock, there is enough pent-up buyer demand to soak up increased stock levels without a noticeable price drop. Next auction weekend seems to be a renovators auction week. 33 Murray St Prahran - Guy St Leger of Biggin and Scott - great area - love the Flying Duck pub. 25 Central Park Road Malvern East - Andrew James of Hocking Stuart - how much will the $4 million renovated version across the road affect things? Pricing Wormy's not seeing a lot of action in the Stonnington area, so we need to be careful predicting any medium-term trends but pricing action to date seems upwards. Happy Wife Happy Life |
Adam's Architecture
Gascoigne Gem


Adam Woledge
0413 318 079
Registered Architect & Principal Buyer Agent
Up for auction this weekend - it has been on the market for some time, albeit with another agency - is 25 Central Park Road in East Malvern. Many will see the romance in this house: it has plenty of scope for improvement while retaining the original house heartbeat.
Among the big pluses here are position (the Gascoigne Estate does not get much better), great original Edwardian bones, north-facing rear, great car access, good land content. Most people would look at extending to the rear and possibly going up; this keeps the original house intact (saving on structural reinforcement costs) and also preserves the original house form, which would aid with council approval. One could also think about a basement to the rear, to maximise rear yard space.
There are some minor issues. The two-storey to the northern boundary impacts a little; Anderson Street is fringe for this area and obviously there are the large building and planning risks associated with a major project of this type. These points aside, the options are endless and it would be hard to go wrong here in the long term.
The concept above breaks the house in two. The front area would largely remain as is and serve as guest / children bedroom and formal living areas. At the rear, would be a new, independent structure, open-planned to best suit modern living and to the first floor of this would be the master bedroom zone. The entry remains as is, yet would be better connected to the rear part of the house with a central hallway, as this would improve flow.
With recent strong auction sales at 7 Parslow Street Malvern & 55 Ardrie Road Malvern East (see ratings below), and also the big private sale at 38 Central Park Road (see last week's market news), buyers must have faith that, if the key ingredients are right (orientation, bones, position among many), then pouring your heart and soul (and hard-earned cash) into an extensive make-over is well worth it in this area given certain market conditions. You just need a good vision.
We rated 25 Central Park Road 721/1000 for the land only.
It is listed with Andrew Summons of Hocking Stuart and is scheduled for auction Saturday 27 June at 11am. The estimated price is $2 million-plus.
Design Smart.
Adam
Auctions We Reviewed
| AUCTIONEER | AGENCY | QUOTE |
| Peter Kennett | Hocking Stuart | $2,400,000 |
| RESULT | ||
| BOUGHT* - $2,975,000 | ||
OUR COMMENTS
"Out of a smallish crowd of 60 people, six bidders kept auctioneer Peter Kennett from Hocking Stuart busy. Peter conducted his usual first-rate auction for a very good result. On the market at $2.7 million, this sold for just under $3 million."
Mal James
0408 107 988
Principal Buyer Agent
| AUCTIONEER | AGENCY | QUOTE |
| Peter Kennett | Hocking Stuart | $3,200,000+ |
| RESULT | ||
| BOUGHT* - $3,500,000 | ||
OUR COMMENTS
"Inside auction with Peter Kennett from Hocking Stuart in front of a crowd of around 70. With an opening bid of $3 million, two bidders competed to see this on the market at $3.4 million and sold $100,000 later for $3.5 million."
Mal James
0408 107 988
Principal Buyer Agent
| AUCTIONEER | AGENCY | QUOTE |
| Mark Dayman | Marshall White | $1.2m+ |
| RESULT | ||
| BOUGHT* - $$1,302,000 | ||
OUR COMMENTS
"Mark Dayman of Marshall White was at his very best in front of a large crowd today of 120. Four bidders, very strong bidding, very good bidder management. Sold under the hammer."
Mal James
0408 107 988
Principal Buyer Agent
| AUCTIONEER | AGENCY | QUOTE |
| David Gilham | Noel Jones | 1,400,00-1,500,000 |
| RESULT | ||
| BOUGHT* - $1,830,000 | ||
OUR COMMENTS
"Four bidders from the 100-strong crowd kept auctioneer David Gilham busy here. A genuine opening bid of $1.4 million kicked off proceedings and strong bidding pushed the final price to $1.83 million."
Kristen Hatt
03 9804 3133
Buyer Advocate
| AUCTIONEER | AGENCY | QUOTE |
| Andrew Haines | Marshall White | |
| RESULT | ||
| BOUGHT* - $800,000 | ||
OUR COMMENTS
"Four bidders from a crowd of 70 people pushed this auction along to a sold price of $800,000."
Kristen Hatt
03 9804 3133
Buyer Advocate
| AUCTIONEER | AGENCY | QUOTE |
| Steve Tickell | Hocking Stuart | $1,400,000+ |
| RESULT | ||
| PASSED IN* | ||
OUR COMMENTS
"Very small crowd saw auctioneer Steve Tickell do very little, meaning no bids. Not sure what is happening here."
Mal James
0408 107 988
Principal Buyer Agent
| AUCTIONEER | AGENCY | QUOTE |
| Stephen Tickell | Hocking Stuart | 800,000 |



































