BY Mal James 20th June 2009
It’s 6pm Saturday and we have been to 16 auctions (less than usual because there is a real shortage of $1 million-plus auctions that are worthwhile covering) and the James Clearance rate is 81 per cent.
Please note our Chinese translation and Wormy to the right (our price opinion and a general guide [...]
BY James Buyer Advocates 30th May 2009
Brighton still has more than 100 $1 million-plus properties up on the net for sale and that is double the combined number for Hawthorn and Kew at this level. So stock levels or, more succinctly, unsold stock levels are the main reason why Bayside is seeing the weakest of the price [...]
BY Mal James 18th April 2009
Ian Jackson, sales director of JP Dixon, is a man we can relate to: single malts, fly-fishing and a Brighton lover. Geez, I can’t believe I just wrote this – we’ve lost half our audience already. Seriously, Ian is a man I have enjoyed doing deals with. He does stick to his [...]
BY Mal James 18th April 2009
It’s 5pm and we have a 56% clearance rate on the 16 $1 million-plus auctions we attended today.
There has been significant bad news in the papers this week and, of course, people naturally get nervous again. Did it influence the market?
Maybe. Today, however, we did not feel the vibe of doom so evident [...]
BY Mal James 28th February 2009
At 5pm on Saturday, the clearance rate of the 21 auctions we previewed was 58% and sure to go up overnight. Sounds ominous – sorry.
The James Tostevin auction featured above was 13 Woodlands Avenue Camberwell. We knew this was going to be huge – the James Q rating was 778 (great [...]
BY Mal James 21st February 2009
On Saturday at 5pm, we have a James clearance rate of 47% on the 19 auctions we attended – by Sunday this has moved to a very strong 79% (our highest in 2 years). On first blush, it doesn’t necessarily say the market is moving ahead positively (for sellers) but, in fairness, [...]
BY Mal James 5th January 2009
What are you going to do this weekend on a pass in or a vendor’s bid?
In 2009 the rules & strategies have changed. Don’t miss out, don’t pay too much.
Many buyers turn up to an auction with little planning having been done, other than “I think I will bid up to …” or [...]
BY Mal James 13th December 2008
At 5pm Saturday, the Auction Clearance Rate of James Attended Auctions was 38%. Nothing new here; but the market does have a slight sense of upbeatedness (if there is such a word), as a number of long-running deals and expressions of interest were concluded during the week.
4 Deepdene Place Balwyn – good [...]
BY Mal James 29th November 2008
Please note the 20% to 40%+ drop in the market comments are not hardy ha ha – this is reality. Yours truly has also been a reluctant non-seller. So, please, the market speaks to most of us in the same manner.
But while we respect sellers and their agents – we act for buyers.
The [...]
BY Mal James 12th July 2008
A stunning Brighton property sold last week after being on the market for approximately 6 months. The home was for sale with two local agents one of whom, I am led to believe, is closely related to the vendor. The local agents were fired and the imposing property was [...]
BY Mal James 1st March 2007
For once we say believe what you read in the papers – the market has started with some incredible buyer force, in some cases panicked demand; and with stock levels now seemingly stabilizing at levels a lot lower than say 3 years ago (sort of like our water) this has resulted in [...]
BY Mal James 1st November 2006
The spring market has proved what we have been saying all year. The inner city, high quality, perfect home market is firing as strong as it ever has. Good quality family homes on good quality blocks are in a boom at present. It is also, in our opinion, not too great a [...]
BY Mal James 1st August 2006
Some Of What We Have Bought
Here are some of the properties we have bought in the last few months:
Hampton – Family home in Margarita St. (see picture below)
Portsea – Beach house in Franklin Rd.
Camberwell – Townhouse in Cornell St. (see picture below)
Hampton – Beachfront property on Beach Rd.
Port Melbourne – [...]
BY Mal James 1st March 2006
Overall the market for good quality family homes is currently in a spike – this spike is similar to the “good quality home” spike just after the last federal election. By spike we mean sale or purchase results well above the existing upward trend line.
Balance this with our opinion that the outer [...]
