Inner-suburban Melbourne market in recovery mode: Monique Sasson Wakelin
The Melbourne inner-suburban investment property market is in recovery mode, with a perceptible shift in the balance of power from buyers to vendors, according to property investment adviser Monique Sasson Wakelin.
She maintains the latest data suggests the inner-suburban investment property market is in “recovery mode.”
“You won’t see it in the statistics published in our metropolitan daily newspapers because they concern themselves with city-wide data, which, as the table shows, only indicate a flat market.”
The Melbourne inner-suburban investment property market is in recovery mode, with a perceptible shift in the balance of power from buyers to vendors, according to property investment adviser Monique Sasson Wakelin.
She maintains the latest data suggests the inner-suburban investment property market is in “recovery mode.”
“You won’t see it in the statistics published in our metropolitan daily newspapers because they concern themselves with city-wide data, which, as the table shows, only indicate a flat market.”
But she suggests investment-grade assets two to 12 kilometres out from Melbourne’s CBD are improving.
“The feedback from our team of property advisors who are in the market six days a week is that prices for this category have clawed back around half of the decline in prices experienced since the previous market peak in 2010 – a testament to their resilience and quality even in a challenged market,” she says.
Sasson Wakelin blogged that another illustration of the “two-speed Melbourne market” was auction clearance rates.
“Melbourne-wide, these are sitting at around 60% for 2012.
“That in itself is good news, being several percentage points higher than the corresponding numbers for the second half of 2011.
“Nevertheless, we are finding a higher clearance rate for top quality investment property – it is back at around 75%.”
She concedes the pace of the upswing was measured.
“The market isn’t exhibiting the volatility that can appear when it really takes off – at least not yet.
“That’s good news, as it provides more certainty and transparency about what is fair value for market participants,” she says.
“Another positive for the market was the reasonable level of quality stock at the moment.
“If you’re looking for a quality asset, now is a time you can be confident of finding it.”
“Similarly, those who are seeking to sell can expect growing interest from buyers,” she says.
With this backdrop of an already recovering market, she expects the 50-basis-points drop in the cash rate by the Reserve Bank last Tuesday, plus the prospects of further cuts in coming months, to provide further support.
