Market Report
Property Market Report: March 2024
15 March 2024
by Dee Pajevikj
The beach towns have emptied out and the kids are back in school and the traffic is back on the roads and the wheels of industry are once again humming nicely along the rails leading toward a bright future. The Reserve Bank, a compassionate institution, has heard the cries of the people and decided to call its rate Rottweiler to heel, indicating easier times for real estate investors to come.
At Abercrombys we have recently seen a much-needed increase in stock levels of properties. So if you are searching you’ll enjoy perusing our handsome array of houses and apartments.
Homes that are already well renovated and ready for a buyer to move straight in are particularly popular now, perhaps because builders are in short supply, making the prospect of renovating appear problematic to buyers.
We note that people are more frequently buying houses to be homes rather than as investments at present. The cessation of interest rate hikes, and the likelihood of decreases later this year, will surely draw them back into the market.
Clearance rates at auction remain historically strong at 70.1% in the weekend just gone, compared to 66.5% for the same weekend last year.
During the first two months of the year at Abercrombys, using our discreet sales methodology, we’ve sold some of Melbourne’s most opulent homes, each of them realizing a premium sales result. It’s been a very gratifying start to the year. With interest rates in abeyance and optimism entering the market again, now is the time to list your property with our approachable, experienced sales team and be happily surprised at what our singular approach can achieve.
Victoria’s property rental market is experiencing a golden age. That is… if you’re on the right side of the lessor/ tenant relationship. If you’re not, then buying a rental property would make better sense than any other investment at present, considering all-time low vacancy rates are pushing rents to levels well in excess of interest payments.
The Federal government’s recent adjustment of immigration levels may marginally increase vacancy rates and therefore lead to some slight braking effect on rent increases – but there remains such a housing shortage in Australia we are talking of tweaks, rather than shifts in the current rental market. This is, and remains, the age of the landlord – so it makes sense to be one.
This means continuing strong rental prices in the suburbs where we operate. Demand for high-end homes in Stonnington and Boroondara is particularly high at the moment.