Melbourne Property News Monthly Wrap – July 2023

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Melbourne Property News - Buyer Marketing

Melbourne values recovering, but rents are soaring

Over July’s first three weekends the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) recorded more than 1,259 auctions. 957 properties sold, 700 at auction, with 302 passed in. 257 properties were sold before auction with 0 properties selling after auction. The clearance rate averaged 75.5% easing on June’s 79%.

The Reserve Bank’s decision on July 4 to keep interest rates at 4.1% without an increase was a relief for mortgage payers. The average variable mortgage rate is now approximately 5.9% for new owner occupier loans. A three percentage point serviceability buffer usually applies, so you must still have the means to service your loan if the mortgage rate goes up to 9%. 

But the market’s holding up well with the latest APRA data for the March quarter showing only 0.5% of home loan borrowers had fallen less than three months behind with repayments. I.E. one in every 200.

Two more great buys this month with Buyer Marketing!

2/20 Oliver Road Templestowe, in a great location, was purchased off market for $1,150,000 for a very happy client. 37b Orange Street, Bentleigh East (one of the suburb’s best streets) with 4 bed, 2 bath, 2 car parking and 287 sqm internal space, was secured for $1.65 million. The clients are over the moon with a well negotiated purchase by Buyer Marketing!

Values still creeping up

Melbourne home prices are rising gradually, or rather, recovering. A year ago there were 191 suburbs where the average house price was over one million. The REIV says that’s been reduced to 161 suburbs now (after the 13.5% value slump over 2022). The latest data from PropTrack claims 80% of Victorian suburbs gained value in the past 3 months (April to June). Up 0.7% in June alone for example. Kew is the best performer rising 12.9%. This expensive suburb is a good signaller, often showing the first signs of Melbourne market weakness, or recovery.

Record incoming immigration is still underpinning the recovery. There’s an under-supply of stock for sale and extremely tight rental availability too. 

Which buyers will I be competing with? 

Although many local property investors are bailing out and selling up, due to the State Government’s new land taxes, a new cohort of Chinese investors are arriving. Many agents report Chinese homebuyers and investors are coming back in big numbers, often targeting the eastern suburbs with high performing school zones. According to Daniel Ho, Managing Director of international real estate company Juwai IQI, “We expect Chinese investment in Australian real estate to climb at least 30% in 2023 compared to 2022.”  30% is a huge increase!

In competitive buying conditions like these, it makes all the difference when you have Buyer Marketing’s deep experience on your side. Our very effective strategies give you the best chance of locating the best possible property, then whether at auction or off-market, negotiating the best possible buy for you!

Peter Fox
Principal Advisor &
Licensed Estate Agent
Buyer Marketing

Google Reviews

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Gail Lobo profile picture
Gail Lobo
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Peter's knowledge and expertise were invaluable when purchasing my first home. He guided me through every step and kept me informed regularly, which made the process easier and less stressful. I felt supported and in good hands throughout. Everything fell into place within a few weeks, quicker than expected! I would highly recommend Peter and his services.
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Charlotte St John profile picture
Charlotte St John
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Peter Fox is an outstanding buyer’s advocate. I am so glad that I hired him. It was incredibly helpful to have someone so experienced in real estate navigate the ins and outs of buying a home on my behalf. He achieved the result I was looking for in record speed, and took the stress out of everything. Thank you Peter.
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Colby Hart profile picture
Colby Hart
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Peter was a fantastic buyers advocate - identified and negotiated our dream home for us extremely quickly. Couldn't recommend higher.
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Beatrix Neville profile picture
Beatrix Neville
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I had an excellent experience working with Peter in purchasing my first home. Peter has a calm demeanour and is a clear communicator - never once did I feel stressed, pressured or uncertain of where I was in the journey or what the next steps would be. Peter understood me and my brief, selected quality properties to inspect and took me through off-market properties to compare. Within 3 weeks of contracting Peter we secured the perfect place. I am absolutely thrilled with my purchase, and believe I would have missed out on the property without Peter's rapport and expertise in communicating with Real Estate, and then guidance once the negotiation process started. Peter made the process of finding a property so fun and exciting that I was almost sad when it was over! Thanks Peter!
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Jean-Pierre Eid profile picture
Jean-Pierre Eid
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We engaged Peter Fox for bidding and negotiating, hands down one of the best decisions we ever made. He was clear and comforting ahead of auction and on the day witnessing Peter go to work was awe inspiring. Having done his due diligence beforehand, he was quick to assess a sizable field of interested parties and surgically execute a winning strategy securing for us our dream home. All that aside Peter was empathetic and understood our worries and motivations while also demonstrating strong discipline and an ethical approach throughout. Thank you Peter Fox
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Jessica Fagioli profile picture
Jessica Fagioli
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Peter is nothing short of a real estate king. I engaged Peter because I was looking at buying a specific house in a very competitive area, and which was being sold under a complex set of circumstances. Before even formally engaging him, Peter had gone to see the house in question, had spoken to the real estate agent, and had a good idea of what we were working with. From that moment on, I knew I was in safe hands. Peter was always available to alleviate any concerns and answer any questions, and when he wasn’t in a position to know the answers, he knew exactly how to get them in a prompt manner. Peter established a strong rapport with both the vendor’s solicitor (which ensured my lawyers and I were comfortable with the state of affairs before auction day) and the selling agent (which was critical to my ultimate success at auction). I cannot even begin to describe Peter’s mastery on auction day: there is no way I would’ve succeeded had he not been there. I cannot recommend Peter highly enough. Infinite thanks to you, Peter!
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patty goodman profile picture
patty goodman
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I purchased an investment property through Peter and he made the process so easy and stress free. I saved so much time being able to work while he inspected multiple property’s and negotiated a good deal for the right one. Highly recommend this bloke!
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Peter Mallen profile picture
Peter Mallen
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Peter Fox from Buyer Marketing helped us buy a property in Vermont South recently. We have been looking to downsize for some time and, honestly, are fairly fussy with our criteria. So when a house came along which ticked many of the boxes for us, we enlisted Peter's help to negotiate with the agent and to get the deal across the line. Peter was friendly, approachable and professional throughout. His knowledge and experience of the real estate market and the buying side in particular meant that we could leave the conversations and timing of offers to Peter. We were able to secure the property we wanted at a price that met our budget and met our criteria. So we are very grateful for Peter's advice, assistance and good communication throughout the process.
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Peter Villinger profile picture
Peter Villinger
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With Buyer Marketing’s Peter Fox I was in good hands from the beginning. An initial meeting with Peter set me on the path to a successful purchase of a property. This was an informal chat whereby he was able to understand precisely what my requirements were.From there the process was clear and efficient, Peter explaining not only what he would do but also how and why those were his strategies.Regular updates and the knowledge that he was up for a chat anytime was most reassuring. Peter V
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James Ireland profile picture
James Ireland
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Peter provided us with deep knowledge of the local areas, the real estate market and contacts within the industry that allowed us to quickly purchase a property that suited us perfectly. He gave us calm and thoughtful recommendations and was there for us at every step. He gave us insights we would not have otherwise known, and made the whole process simple. He conducted all the negotiations on our behalf and we came away with the perfect property at the right price. Could not recommend his services higher.

Buyers Agent Melbourne

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