Thanks Aldo for bringing us your very useful insights. The degree of frenzy as you call it around property also exists here in Melbourne, although maybe to a somewhat lesser degree than what the anecdotal evidence suggests is happening in Queensland's Gold Coast and regional areas. I think Sydney's degree of frenzy might also be higher than Melbourne's from what I've discerned in the last 18 months or so, following that market from afar. But Melbourne is definitely gripped in the property craze too.
To illustrate, a renovated two-storey terrace property on 360sq m in the upmarket inner suburb of Albert Park in Melbourne went to auction in December 2021, listed at $6-6.6m after being bought for $3.65m in 2016, (when by the way, it was perfectly livable) but was subsequently extended and modernised. After four buyers hotly contested the auction, it sold for $9.175m. That's about $2.5m above the (already very ambitious, in my mind) reserve. With stamp duty, those buyers have coughed up over $9.6m. Now, it was a lovely looking property inside and out, but while the buyers might feel chuffed that they managed to outbid others and land the purchase, I'd say it's very possible that in a couple of years' time, after a handful of rate rises by the RBA as is currently being slated, that place would struggle to sell for $5m. That'd be a helluva lot of money lost.
According to some real estate agents here in Melbourne, the market is a little bit more subdued this year already, with buyers being just that little more restrained than the back end of last year. But I'd say it's definitely a seller's market still. If you're selling property now, you're likely to be making a nice windfall, although perhaps not as huge as our lucky vendors above.
