Newsletter - Inner Circle March 2025

MARKET MOVES.

Let’s start with some good news for our Melbourne clients. 

Since November, evidence is emerging of an uptick. An analysis of Melbourne auction results compared to Sydney shows a healthy jump in clearances for the start of the year.

Melbourne house prices were the best performing for the month of February. Interestingly, the return to growth in Melbourne is being driven by prestige house values in the top tier of the market.

Substantial homes in Melbourne’s middle ring - especially the Eastern suburbs, Bayside and some areas in the North West - have a lot to gain as falling rates give buyers more spending power.

Indeed, if we get a few rate cuts this year, the leaders in price growth are likely to shift from affordable areas towards homes a bit above the metro median price in suburbs like Essendon, Burwood, Doncaster and Cheltenham. 

For established units in areas with good macro drivers and which haven’t featured heavy development, the picture is also quite bright over the medium term. 

While much has been made of the exodus of mostly retired landlords from the Victorian apartment market, many established units for sale have been snapped up by the surge in first home buyers as well as by well-heeled investors and downsizers. 

At Property Mavens, we firmly believe Melbourne is best positioned to reap the rewards of declining interest rates. 

We also see a bright future for substantial regional centres like Geelong, Albury-Wodonga and the Mornington Peninsula. 

Rents across Australia rose 0.6% in February, the strongest gain since May 2024, but well below the 0.9% rise recorded same time last year.

It’s important to note however that while the slowdown in rental prices is now established, the annual change in rents is still tracking around double pre-Covid levels.

In The Media.

For investors, it’s worth investigating beyond the headlines to understand the reasons why Melbourne is being rated by analysts as the market most likely to succeed in 2025. 

Many have concluded that after two years of stationary house prices, Melbourne, until recently the second most expensive market in the country, has more to gain than anywhere else.

Property Mavens CEO, Miriam Sandkuhler, takes a definitive look at what investors should know about buying in Melbourne in 2025: bit.ly/43WwfI8

Why you need an experienced buyers agent in Ballarat.

Joseph wanted a low-maintenance investment property with the potential for capital growth and if possible, the ability to develop and improve. He engaged Miriam Sandkuhler from Property Mavens as his Buyers Agent to help secure the property.

After a two week search, we found and successfully negotiated the purchase of this Ballarat house in the mid $400Ks range. 

This property ticked all the boxes with the potential to subdivide and develop as well as a strong rental yield in the meantime. The house is currently tenanted and fully compliant with Victorian regulations. 

It was a particularly satisfying outcome as we have seen many interstate agencies snapping up Ballarat properties10% -15% above their current value while we were able to buy this one off market and below the vendor’s asking price. 

Why you need a Vendors Advocate.

Jeff and Shermaine need to sell an investment property in a short period of time while keeping selling costs to a minimum. 

They owned this centreline house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms just north of the Bendigo CBD. 

They engaged Michael Kimbel from Property Mavens as their Vendor Advocate to help secure a sale.

Working with the agent, we were able to get prospects through the property and negotiate a successful off market sale just two days after listing. This saved the couple thousands of dollars in advertising and staging costs.

It also proved a great result with sale price coming in 5% above the above purchase price they paid just two years ago, despite the local market softening by 8% in that period. 

Go forth and prosper !

Kind Regards
Miriam Sandkuhler
CEO, Accredited Property Investment Advisor

Buyer and Vendor Advocate, Author of Property Prosperity

e: miriam@propertymavens.com.au
p: 03) 9988 2266 

The Jewell
Suite 209/566 St Kilda Rd
Melbourne VIC 3004
www.propertymavens.com.au

COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE