Hi ,
 

 

As I was preparing for my speaking spot on Midday Panorama (NorthWest FM radio) with Vilma Formosa tomorrow, I found it interesting to compare how the different suburbs of Melbourne are faring.  What I discovered, of course, is a slightly different picture to what the media feeds you. 

You're most likely reading that the Melbourne median house price is down 5.6% for the year and more doom and gloom is on the way.  But you need to be very careful regarding what you digest as fact, without doing your own due diligence around the suburb you are planning to consider to buy or sell in.

That 5.6% statistic is a very high level view across all of Melbourne's 300+ suburbs.  There is no way a suburb in Melbourne's West is going to be priced identically to a suburb in Melbourne's East. This is where the danger lies for those who just blindly buy into the hype the media are selling you.

In 2018, Melbourne's Inner South was down 9.4%, averaged across a number of suburbs (FYI South Melbourne was down 17.26% for the year).  Melbourne's Inner East was down 11.7%, averaged across a number of suburbs (FYI Hawthorn was down 23.18% for the year).  Right away you can see both of these statistics are below the 5.6% figure reported for Melbourne house prices. 

When we delve into an individual suburb, you get a clearer picture.  For example, in Melbourne's north, houses in Pascoe Vale are up in price 1.4% for the year but down 2.67% for the quarter. Pascoe Vale unit prices are up 8.41% for the year and up 3.55% for the quarter.  Broadmeadows is up 10.48% in price for the year and up 0.17% for the quarter. Essendon house prices are up 6.07% for the year, with a 3.13% increace for the last quarter.  One size does not fit all.

Pick any Melbourne suburb and you will see different percentages. Considering a specific focus paints a far more accurate picture regarding house prices in any particular suburb than any generalisation ever will.  You need to know the numbers.

Are some buyers having a tough time getting finance? Yes. Are vendors having to be more realistic with their expectations? Of course. I said as much in The Sunday Age on the weekend.  

But people will always need to buy and people will always need to sell. In a market littered with tales of woe, it is just a matter of keeping a level head and understanding the statistics that specifically apply to the suburb you're looking at.  Line up your own group of ducks that you've sourced yourself.   If you need a hand, you know where I am.

Amidst the housing downturn in Australia, first home buyers have been noted to be getting back in the property market. Latest data from the ABS Housing Finance report showed that of all 'Owner-occupier loans' first home buyers are making up the largest proportion they have in over six years.

Tune in at midday on Friday 15th February to hear Wendy Chamberlain as a guest speaker on 'Midday Panorama with Vilma Formosa' on 98.9 North West FM.

Wendy will be a guest speaker at the upcoming Women's Networking Australia lunch on Tuesday 30 April, speaking on the topic of 'How to get media exposure'.

Wendy will be speaking at Fresh Networking Thornbury on Thursday 7th March, providing an update on the Melbourne property market.

Thanks to Belinda Jane at Emprie Home Loans, you have the opportunity to enter to soak up the sun in Croatia.  Follow this link to be in the dr aw.

Wendy was recently featured in a Domain article on Melbourne downsizers purchasing inner-city properties with convenient freeway access to ensure they can easily spend their weekends at the beach. 

She discussed that many downsizers are selling their family homes to purchasing a low maintenance inner-city property aswell as a beachside property, typically large enough to cater for the whole family on special occasions.