INVESTORS MISS OUT
Local buyers seize the lead at Geelong auctions
HOMEBUYERS are beating investors at more Geelong auctions as new figures show the city had the nation’s best clearance rate in the March quarter.
More than eight out of 10 homes auctioned in the first three months this year found a buyer, with the 83.3 per cent selling rate recorded by CoreLogic more than 15 per cent better than any other major market.
CoreLogic tracked 458 auctions in the Geelong region in the March quarter, with selling conditions improving on the 80 per cent success rate in December and the same period last year.
Melbourne’s clearance rate fell to 68.4 per cent, with six out of Melbourne’s nine subregions also falling.
Geelong buyers’ advocate Tony Slack said he had noticed fewer investors in the market as Australian Prudential Regulation Authority rules made it harder to borrow money.
He said evidence that interest-only loans had fallen from favour showed that tighter lending rules were biting investors.
Mr Slack said investors were also being less bullish at auctions, opening the door for owner-occupiers.
“For the past couple of months, I’ve been competing less against Melbourne and Sydney buyers’ agents. They haven’t been as prolific as last year and early this year,” he said.
Barry Plant, Highton agent Kieron Hunter said half the buyers were still coming from outside Geelong, but there was more competition as almost all properties in some areas were going to auction.
“It’s different in the higher market. Anything I’ve had above $700,000, three out of four is always going to be from somewhere else,” he said.
“Investors are on everything sub-$600,000, so there’s always an advocate there from Melbourne, but I’ve also had advocates down here for (owner-occupiers) who don’t know anything about the market.”
Mr Hunter said the number of pre-auction sales showed the level of frustration from buyers as demand for homes rose.
“Out of 10 auctions, five of WHEN Joyce Pietsch turned 17, the austere war years were coming to a close and it was time to dance. Now the 92-year-old is set to be a debutante all over again. Mrs Pietsch and fellow nonagenarian Isla Adamson will quickstep and foxtrot their way back to the 1940s as part of a senior deb ball at the CWA clubrooms in East Geelong tomorrow night. The Highton resident practised a few dance moves in her lounge room this week in preparation. “My mother was a wonderful musician, she used to play the piano. So I went to a number of dances around Camperdown and Lismore in the Western District when I was younger,” Mrs Pietsch said. “Dancing was a way of meeting people back then. There was a dance on every weekend somewhere. It was a great tradition that isn’t around as much as it used to be.” Mrs Pietsch was an enthusiastic golfer and lawn bowler until her retirement years. She said the deb ball was an opportunity to keep active and socialise at the same time. “It’s all about having fun. Once you’re out there dancing, it feels like the old days.” ours might sell beforehand where you get someone who throws the kitchen sink at it,” he said.
“Ninety per cent (of homes) are auctioned wherever you go and you get burnt. You spend $400 on a building inspection every time and by the end of it you just want to get in there.
“There isn’t any private sales, so one (property) pops up and they’ve got to wait four weeks (for the auction).
“If they miss out they’ve got to wait another four weeks and all of a sudden it’s three months when they’ve got cash burning a hole in their pocket and they’ve got pre-approval on finance for six months,” he said.
McGrath, Geelong agent Jim Cross said he had seen more local buyers win at auctions recently.
In the past nine months local buyers were often matching or outbidding absentee buyers from interstate or overseas.
“I think the Melbourne and Sydney buyers were seeing value over and above locals in our property,” he said.
“With all the exposure and the sales evidence and the growth, the local buyers have accepted the fact that Geelong has had a shift in pricing,” Mr Cross said.