Balwyn North 12 Ajana: 'Mmmm - it is quiet today.' Toby Parker. Passed In $1,600,000, No bidders

Not much happening today, with one of the quietest non-holiday Boroondara auction weeks I can remember. There were 11 auctions and seven sold. In May we were running at four times this almost every week. Very few private sales either.

Bidderman was irrelevant on such small numbers. The highlights were:

3 Longstaff Kew East – Glen Coutinho of Hocking Stuart which had a crowd of 80 and 5 bidders and was bought for $1,413,000. This one was all about the renovation and not the position. It really was a matter of home over location. See our report and click onto our ratings below.

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Hawthorn 18 Melville: With the sun in his eyes, auctioneer Alastair Craig took the helm on this crisp, sunny morning in Melbourne. There was a strong atmosphere in the crowd. With three bidders, it was passed in at $1,605,000 and was bought afterwards well above this figure.

As we approach the shortest day of the year, we saw a record number of auctions in Boroondara on Saturday (compared to equivalent weekends in past years). Given the large supply, the market seems to have  some resilience. In fact, there is so much going on that  many key agents are delaying their traditional mid-year holiday by a few weeks.

Of the 11 auctions we featured, two were bought under the hammer, six were passed-in,  one was bought after and two were bought before. Our demand indicator, Bidderman, was 1.4 for the weekend.

The word from some of the selling agents we respect:

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St Kilda 35 Vale St: Today with the rain, it's indoors, up close and personal. Matthew Young of Buxton firing up two bidders on the way to a bought price of $1,192,000.

At 6pm Saturday the James Million-Dollar-Plus Clearance Rate on the 35 auctions we attended was 51%. Our Demand Indicator, Bidderman, was up at 1.7 – still hanging in there.

PRICE CORRECTION
There is no doubt the market has eased, “corrected” – call it what you like. One easy word to understand  is “dropped”. On a few properties it has dropped by 10% since Anzac Day.  Some homes – mostly the higher quality ones – haven’t missed a beat. But for the majority, what seems to have occurred are minor falls – although that’s hard to prove specifically.

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Hmmm - things are changing and right now it's not for the better. One of Hawthorn's top selling agents Richard P. Winneke fails to get a bid at 90 Walpole St Kew. Passed In $2,100,000

Today was a watershed day for the Boroondara market – a day when the market could no longer gorge the incredible amount it has been gorging (for the last six months). Today was a real (excuse me, while I burp) I just can’t fit in anymore kind of day. Today the Boroondara market which has been the strongest of the four big $m+ markets (Stonnington, Bayside and Port Phillip) showed the white flag and said I’m no different to the rest of you. At 52% it was literally a flip of the coin to see if the home sold on the day.

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Camberwell 26 Alma Road: Bought $1,615,000. Bang! 5 bidders. Richard Jellis. Good to see the 'ol tiger back prowling around.

In contrast to last week, we saw all 9 properties we covered over $1,000,000 today, sell.   Three sold before auction, 3 sold under the hammer and 3 were bought after.  That’s a 100% clearance rate and Bidderman was back up to two.

Five of the nine properties had two or more bidders.  Richard Jellis of Jellis Craig had 5 bidders at 26 Alma Road Camberwell.  3 Bristol Street Surrey Hills (Antony Woodley Marshall White) also had good bidding strength, with three bidders taking the price to tick over $2,000,000.  Steve Burke of Jellis Craig sold  71 Broadway in Camberwell with a strong result just over $3,700,000.  Sure it needed a bit of work, but had very good land content.  12 Lorne Grove  Camberwell (Peter Batrouney and Campbell Ward) next weekend will be interesting.

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Middle Park 61 Mills St. Single fronter under a million - admittedly with an issue or two - but only ten people showed up and then there was a vendor bid at $920,000. Silence. Andrew Stuart is a quality auctioneer and Hocking Stuart Albert Park is a dominant performer, so no issue there. It's the market and it seems to be changing very quickly.

1) Its 6.00 pm on Saturday and the James Clearance Rate for the 32 auctions we attended was 47%. May of course rise overnight as more results are reported.

2) Bidderman – now at 1.5 and falling. Significant change from a month ago.

3) This weekend is the weakest of the Big 5 auction weekends in May as far as quality and numbers go; so the next two weeks may prove our headlines and assertions as just that, headlines and assertions, not actual facts or they may confirm once and for all – things have changed in 2010.

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Canterbury: 55 The Ridge: This auction had the hype of Ben-Hur. Auctioneer Richard James stepped out into the limelight ready for action kicking things off with a vendor bid of $3,100,000. Silence. Vendor Bid $3,200,000. Silence. Passed In.

I’ve been in New York and what a difference a fortnight makes. Did I come back to the same place – it’s noticeably quieter! But the market is still turning over big, big numbers of stock – not saying we are going backwards like TOP END South Yarra and Toorak.

Of our nine featured auctions, four were bought under the hammer, two were passed-in and three were bought before. Activity is less frenetic overall than a month or so ago. However homes are still selling in large numbers make no mistake. Look at our analysis below on the list of $M+ scheduled auctions. 75% reported clearance rate with only 2 not reported.

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Abercromby's Rob Vickers-Willis in fine form at 14 Wheatland Road Malvern with a big crowd of a 100 producing 6 bidders and a post auction result in excess of $2,250,000. Photo: Julia Atkinson

It is 6pm Saturday and the James Million Dollar-Plus Clearance rate for the 36 Auctions we attended today was a solid  75 per cent on good stock numbers.

The “frenzy” feel has left the highest of the higher end market for now as the new age businessman and establishment money, who determine the Toorak market, reconsider after

(1)    looking at their business’s forward estimate balance sheets.
AND
(2)    looking at the prices being asked.

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Hawthorn 1 Kent: Bought After for $1,430,000: Bidderman 3: Maurice Di Marzio: Rumour has it Maurice has knocked back a huge modelling contract to continue auctioneering; putting pressure on Scott Patterson as to who is Jellis Craig's real pin up boy.

As expected with only a  handful of $1,000,000  plus  auctions this weekend due to the Anzac Day holiday the market was fairly quiet. Of the six auctions we attended today Bidderman was just under 2 with 1 bought before, 1 passing in and 4 bought on the day.

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• 32 Through Rd Camberwell (Walter Dodich, Marshall White)  - 1 bidder – $1,320,000 sold after
• 18 Victor Road Glen Iris (Milton Tsaktsiras, Ray White) – 2 bidders – $1,320,000
• 1 Kent Street Hawthorn (Maurice DiMarzio, Jellis Craig) – 3 bidders – $1,430,000 sold after
• 50 Campbell Grove Hawthorn (Evan Lykourinos, Hocking Stuart)- 2 bidders – $2,235,000
• 18 May Street Balwyn (Dale Edgcumbe, Hocking Stuart)- 1 bidder – $2,000,000 passed in 

Here is a property that prospective buyers will be thinking long and hard about – and they need to.  Although livable it is need of serious renovation – the original house / facade must remain as this is protected by a statutory planning department  Heritage Overlay.

Golf Links Estate is a much loved area by many – it is pretty and it has a strong unifying architectural style. Although a good land size here a lot of it is unprivate (taken up around the corner aspect). Big plus is access to north light and logically the rear extension should built along the south boundary to take advantage of this.

Sam Macaluso from Jellis Craig expects buyer interest to exceed $1.3m for 3 Orrong Crescent Camberwell, which is scheduled to auction May 1 at 10.00am

Design Smart

Adam