The huge number of foreign home buyers in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs is what catalyzed one of the city’s leading real estate agencies to embrace new technology when marketing property.

“I’m seeing the best market I have seen since we established the business 24 years ago,” says Alastair Craig, Director and Auctioneer at Jellis Craig. “Our auction clearance rates are consistently between 85 and 90 percent, even on high volume days. There’s no other way to put that other than it’s a boom market.”

This booming Melbourne property market is what prompted the firm to recently become the first agency in Australia to adopt 3D scan technology in their listings. “Our marketplace, like many, is very, very competitive and we’re always looking to embrace new technology,” says Craig. “We just feel that we’re the first agency to do it and it gives us one of those first-mover advantages. The feedback has been absolutely fantastic, not only on the floor plans but also the videos as well.”

Craig said that the first property Jellis Craig has marketed with Scann3d technology, 13-15 View St in Canterbury, has an offer of acceptance subject to a cooling off period and received what he describes as fantastic feedback. “I just think it makes it easier for buyers to be able to view a property more thoroughly and it almost puts you right in the picture,” said Craig. “The Canterbury and Balwyn areas are closer to some of the great schools in Melbourne, and our international friends have been buying and buying and buying. They’re not afraid to turn up at an auction and spend somewhere between $3 million and $5 million dollars, and they may have only seen it 20 minutes prior to the auction.” Craig said a lot of international buyers want to build their own properties so they’re buying homes that are not listed under heritage listings.

Craig established the firm with business partner Richard Jellis in December 1991. Since that time, the business has grown to include 14 offices with more than 180 agents who sell more than 3000 homes a year, and more $1 million plus real estate than any other real estate group in Melbourne. This weekend, Jellis Craig has 106 auctions scheduled.

“I just don’t see that that is likely to abate in the near future given that we have low rates and there’s talk of further rate cuts in the near future,” says Craig. “There’s a shortage of property at this time for buyers to choose from. Where else do you put your money today? The international market, particularly the Asians, they feel that land banking and owning residential real estate is obviously a very good place to buy. They’re obviously almost 35% better off straight away with the dollar the way it is and low rates. There’s only so much land, and with the population increasing week on week, there’s only so much land you can purchase around the better schools in the east of Melbourne.”

Craig doesn’t think the Abbott government’s plan to impose higher fees on foreign investors will catalyze a decline in this buying activity in Melbourne’s east. “Not really, if anything it’s creating more urgency for them,” he says. “That’s why in the last few weeks I’ve seen more and more demand from Asian buyers. If we put a small premium on them, yes it’s costing more money but they’re already 35 per cent in front with their dollar and what else are you going to buy? I don’t see it deterring them at all.”