Malvern East 11 Deakin St: John Bongiorno is all smiles as the 3 bidders put their hands up. Passed in at $1,135,000

In Stonnington this weekend we monitored 14 properties, of which 8 were reported as bought before, at or after auction.

Bidderman was a surprising 2.3 – surprisingly good given the stock quality

This gives a clearance rate of 57%. For the corresponding week in May of this year we monitored 18 properties at auction at which 12 sold, giving a clearance rate of 66%. So while numbers were similar for the week, overall sales numbers are down considerably for the month when compared to May, as many top end agents are now just getting back from holidays.

The other noticeable difference is the dollar value of transactions. Today the only significant transaction at auction was 4 Grace Street, Malvern which sold after auction for just over $3,600,000 – Marcus Chiminello of Marshall White. See auction report and James Home Rating below.

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Marcus Chiminello (Marshall White) produced great results at Clendon Rd and Elizabeth St

When a relatively small townhouse on Clendon Rd (17B) sells for $190,000  more than it was sold for 9 months ago ($1.81million vs $1.62million) you can safely say that the market continues to be very strong. How Strong? Well, on this example, the annualized  increase is close to 15% and there were 3 bidders chasing this property.

An interesting comparison to this hockey stick curve is 5 Central Park Rd which sold for $2,241,000. Last year ( June 2009) we saw a similar property- corner position- in a similar condition  at 25 Central Park Rd – a house which probably sat on the block better than number 5 – sell for $2,520,000. So that just goes to show that the Gasgoine Estate always wants to be a little quirky and you cannot quickly generalize across all suburbs.

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The million-dollar-plus market is looking reasonably stable in Stonnington on low stock levels.

63 Albany Toorak (Coonara) with Kay and Burton is back on the market again and it will be interesting to see what happens. It sold early last year through Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello for a reported $8 million. Since that time, the owners have completely renovated the home to quite a high standard and made what was a disastrous floor plan quite liveable, although it still doesn’t flow naturally to the west where much of the garden lies. These high-quality renovations look to have cost over a million dollars and the current owners have removed or hidden a very unsightly power substation that previously dominated the yard. According to Kay and Burton, around 8000 sq ft of the original parcel, which was well in excess of 20,000 sq ft, has been taken by a neighbour since last year’s transaction. Ross Savas is quoting more than $6 million and, boy, this is one for the calculators. Last year’s price was that high? Less land lost – add back renovation costs – add back substation removal – minus GFC allowance – plus shortage of stock and the price comes to …….

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31 Clowes Street, South Yarra.
This is one of the better inner city residences I have been to. Luxuriously appointed kitchen and bathrooms and very nice living spaces. The home was completely refurbished in 2007 by Nicholas Day and absolutely oozes class. We rated this property 638/1000.

Positives (apart from the building itself) – proximity to Botanical Gardens, Yarra River, sporting precincts, extra good storage and car garaging.

Negatives – south facing courtyard lacks light, road noise from the Monash and for me, no downstairs bedroom can be a negative (the study could be used, but no bathroom to support it), and there are flats across the lane way.

Agent Marcus Chiminello from Marshall White is seeking somewhere in the mid four millions. There is not a long list of recent comparable sales to draw a conclusion regarding the price, but emotion and appreciation of quality should see it sell in and around that level.

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