SUNDAY BLOG

This fun retrospective recalls three of the quirkiest auctions I’ve experienced in my career in real estate

There is a fine line between telling a selling agent too much information and providing enough information to optimise your property search success. So, how much is too much? And how do buyers often get it wrong?

This week’s #catesunday blog explores the underlying and growing demand for a dwelling type that has historically underperformed.

There is no doubt about it… .2022 has been one of the most unusual years we’ve experienced in a long time, and that’s saying something since the craziness of 2020 and 2021. However, five key things have enabled me to categorise 2022 as one of our most unusual. As we head into 2023, there is…

Emotional vendors often discriminate. For the lucky winner who has the successful offer, they may or may not realise the weight of the favourable treatment, but for the one who missed out, the loss can feel particularly frustrating. Over two decades I’ve seen countless examples of this and I’ve aided buyers put their most favourable…

This spring has officially been labelled as one of our most underwhelming spring markets in terms of available stock. The most surprising statistic I’ve seen makes a lot of sense when I correlate it to my coal face experience, but nevertheless, it’s still startling. It’s little wonder that July was the busiest month this year…

The media would have us all believing that the entire property market is in dire straits right now, but the truth is the median price shift nationally has not been as significant as portrayed. As shown below in this CoreLogic chart, the annualised national change year on year is less than one percent. Granted, the…

I get this question so often. An investor has, (let’s say) a $1,200,000 budget. They schedule an appointment to chat about their options and their strategy, and part the way through, the question pops up. Or, perhaps they as the question up front. Either way, it’s clear that they don’t yet have a strategy and…

This year’s spring in Melbourne is distinctly different to past years’. Our listing and sales volumes are down significantly and our auction clearance rates are no longer signalling seller’s market conditions. Last year’s heady clearance rates coincided with large stock volumes. Melbourne’s eternal lockdown was finally over and vendors were keen to sell prior to…

Earlier this year I penned a piece about 2022’s buyers, and how they were different from those who tackled the heady rush of the COVID-market boom. For many, the focus shifted dramatically from “just get it” to “I’ll take my time to buy carefully and I’ll apply scrutiny”. Now that interest rate rises are upon…

On Tuesday 25th October, Jim Chalmers made his first budget night treasurer speech for the government of the day. With Albanese sitting by his side, much of the speech was anticipated after several hints and earlier announcements. Chalmers’ speech can be read here. Managing the rising cost of living was certainly touched on, as was…