IT’S HAMMER TIME
Weekend sets auction record Christmas a gift for sellers
A RECORD number of properties are going to auction across Geelong this weekend with vendors keen to sell before Christmas.
There are 70 properties set to go under the hammer, the highest number of properties across the Geelong region to ever go to auction in one weekend.
Buxton, Newtown agent Ben Riddle said the huge amount of auctions was indicative of a future market.
“There will be more and more auctions being held in Geelong,” Mr Riddle said.
“An auction under these conditions we are experiencing is becoming the preferred option because there are multiple buyers per property.”
He said selling a week out from Christmas did not have an impact on the result.
“Most properties have been on the market for a few weeks so the people that are deciding to purchase have already made that decision a week or two ago,” he said.
“If people want to buy a property they will be there come rain, hail or shine.”
Fellow agent Will Ainsworth, of McGrath, Geelong, was of the same mindset and said if people wanted to buy a house they would have been looking for a period of time and nothing was going to get in their way.
“People have in their mind they would love to secure something by Christmas and some people get anxious that (the property market) will come back really strong next year and therefore they want to buy this year,” Mr Ainsworth said.
“That fear of no one buys in December has completely been thrown out.”
As the volume of auctions across Geelong has increased so has the clearance rate.
CoreLogic recorded an 82.6 per cent clearance rate in Geelong from 69 auction results in the last week. This was the strongest clearance rate against every capital city and large regional area.
On top of the 70 auctions this weekend there are eight properties scheduled to go to auction next week and five on Saturday, December 23. WATCH the waves lap against the edge of your property as a sprawling home with direct beach frontage on the Bellarine Peninsula hits the market.
No.31 Clifton St, Clifton Springs, is one of few properties in the region with its own private beach.
However the beach is not technically included as part of the property according to Whitford, Newtown agent Tony Young.
“There has been a bit of confusion about it ... we checked it out and the beach line is the border but not many people (apart from the property owners) would go down to that beach,” Mr Young said.
There are about a dozen more properties in that strip that have direct beach access, as do a few properties in Curlewis.
“It is very hard to find anywhere with absolute beach frontage, they don’t come up very often and are tightly held,” Mr Young said.
This Clifton Springs property spreads across 3626sq m of land and feels like your own private resort with Bali style huts surrounding the lush oasis of the swimming pool.
The house has two wings with the open-plan living area in one zone and the bedrooms in the other.
There is also a mezzanine level loft above the loungeroom.
The property last sold in March this year for $1.68 million, according to CoreLogic.
Mr Young said the vendors had big plans for the property including taking down the house and building a new one with infinity pool but decided to go in a different direction.
The property is for sale via an expressions of interest campaign with price hope of $1.8 million to $1.95 million. A LOCAL couple are sending their Hamlyn Heights property to auction today despite initial hesitation at selling so close to Christmas.
Ally and Austin Dres said they were hesitant as it was only a week out from Christmas but as they are planning on buying another property they wanted to know what numbers they were playing with.
“We are really keen to start making that move and Geelong is getting so crazy, prices are insane,” Ms Dres said. “We just thought we would do it now.”
They are selling a charming weatherboard three-bedroom house on 715sq m of land at 8 Highview Pde, Hamlyn Heights.
Buxton, Newtown agent Matt Plunkett is taking the property to auction at noon today with price hopes of $450,000-$490,000.