It pays to work closely with buyers in the current market: Chris Hassall, Buxton Bentleigh

Contact

Mar 5, 2018

It pays to work closely with buyers in the current market: Chris Hassall, Buxton Bentleigh

With property markets returning to more moderate levels, it pays to work closely with buyers to secure sales, says Chris Hassall of Buxton Bentleigh.

Image: Buxton Bentleigh.

Chris Hassall sold this property at 2a David Street, Bentleigh East on the weekend after working closely with the buyer.

REIV CEO Gil King told Williams Media there were 1,152 auctions held in Victoria over the weekend, and a preliminary clearance rate of 68 per cent recorded.

Both figures were down on the same period last year when 1,242 homes were auctioned with 79 per cent selling, said King.

Bentleigh East was the top performing auction suburb, with 13 sales recorded, making a 93 per cent clearance rate.

"We're still getting some really great results", Chris Hassall of Buxton Bentleigh told Williams Media.

But vendors hoping for above-expectation prices might be disappointed, said Hassall.

Hassall said that Buxton had 14 properties go to auction on the weekend, and sold 11.

More power in the hands of buyers, says Chris Hassall of Buxton Bentleigh

"The buyer now is only prepared to pay market prices," he Hassall.

"We're working a lot more closely with buyers," he said.

On the weekend, a buyer was interested in two properties, one with Buxton and one with another agency. Hassall spoke to the buyer and encouraged them to come to the Buxton auction. The buyer ended up purchasing the Buxton property at 2a David Street Bentleigh East, while the other property was passed in.

Hassall said the market has returned to "normal" - "I love it," he told us.

Clearance rates around Melbourne

According to the REIV, Beaumaris, also in Melbourne's south east, recorded a 100 per cent clearance rate from eight auctions.

“The inner and middle ring suburbs accounted for the majority of auction volumes this weekend with the south east experiencing strong results under the hammer," said King.

Hawthorn gets a new record: $9.01 million

The most expensive auction sale for the year was recorded, with 42 Berkeley St, Hawthorn selling for $9,010,000, a new auction record in the suburb. The previous record was held by 10-12 Kooyongkoot Road for $9,000,000 in March 2015.

“This weekend also saw the most expensive auction sale of the year with a six-bedroom home in Hawthorn selling for just over $9 million – a new auction record for the suburb," said King.

Eastern suburbs records Sydney's highest clearance rate

Leanne Pilkington, president of the REINSW, told Williams Media, that Sydney's clearance rate varies enormously from suburb to suburb.

According to Core Logic data, 1,044 auctions were held across Sydney on the weekend, and a preliminary clearance rate of 65.1 per cent was recorded.

Capital city auction statistics (preliminary): CoreLogic

Source: CoreLogic.

"The clearance does vary dramatically depending on the area with 70+ per cent achieved in areas such as inner west, north Sydney and Hornsby, City and 77.5 per cent in the eastern suburbs.

"Agents are reporting good interest through opens, but consider prices to be stable," said Pilkington.

Sydney statistics (preliminary): CoreLogic