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Simon Parker
A number of Barry Plant offices in Melbourne have reported robust sales numbers in June, particularly in the city’s north western and south eastern growth corridors.
The Barry Plant's Noble Park and Keysborough office reported 47 sales in June – up from 22 in June last year – placing the office in the Group’s 'All Time Top Ten' of sales achieved in a month.
“We had over 900 people through our open for inspections this month,” said Cameron Davison, director at Barry Plant Noble Park and Keysborough.
“I would say the interest rate cuts have buyers feeling more confident and most of the forecasters are advising people to get in now before it starts going up again.”
In the city’s north, Simon Best, director of Barry Plant Wallan, sold 37 properties in 30 days.
"In June 2011 we had just 14 sales - and our average sales over the past year has been around 23 per month - so 37 has been our strongest performance ever," he said.
Mr Best said the properties sold were a mix of new homes, land and established homes in a range of areas including Whittlesea, Broadford, Kilmore, Seymour, Glenaroua and Beveridge.
"So I can't put it down to one single thing such as the cut off for the first home buyers grant,” he said.
“We have the same amount of sales people as last year so it's not that either. I think it's just that this area is affordable and people realise that now is obviously a good time to buy."
Mr Best told Real Estate Business that most sales achieved prices at or above vendors’ expectations.
And with Wallan recently included in the city’s urban growth boundary, he said the future looks positive for the local property market.
The Barry Plant group also reported a 75 per cent auction clearance rate last weekend, well above the Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s clearance rate of 59 per cent based on 432 reported auctions for the same period.
"We had a great day ... selling 30 out of our 40 listed auction properties," said Mike McCarthy, CEO.
The REIV also reported 541 private sales last weekend, worth $233 million.
According to REIV 2012 March quarter statistics, the median house price in metropolitan Melbourne was $535,000, representing a minor increase of 0.9 per cent from a revised December quarter median of $530,000.
REIV CEO Enzo Raimondo said upon the release of the statistics that demand for residential property over the past year reflected the broader state of the economy and that buyers would continue to find that prices will maintain their current levels in the short term.
“The property market moves in cycles and now we are in one of stability, with overall median house prices showing no real growth," he said. The median house price has increased $5000 since March 2011, confirming a very stable market in relation to prices."
“The last twelve months also reflect both an easing in population growth and improvement in the supply of new homes."
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