Melbourne's booming auction market, with a record 40,000 auctions last year, attracts headlines. But behind the scenes are the quiet achievers: private sales.
The 2015 property market has begun solidly, buoyed by low interest rates, with the cash rate kept on hold by the Reserve Back recently, at its 2.25 per cent record low.
The median price for a home in Melbourne’s inner suburbs has topped $1.1 million for the first time.
A million dollar home used to be the preserve of the wealthy. Now, though, many Melburnians are millionaires – on paper at least – simply because the homes they bought years ago have appreciated in value.
Not only is home ownership the great Australian dream, but when we have spare cash to invest or have paid off the mortgage and want to put our equity to work, many of us turn again to property, buying for investment.
The desire for space is driving demand for larger homes in Melbourne – a trend reflected in capital gain in the busy December quarter of last year and across 2014.
Baby boomers looking to stay close to home – after selling the family house - have driven up apartment prices from bayside Melbourne to key eastern locations in the past year.
Most of us are time poor and juggling priorities at the best of times. So the prospect of preparing a home for sale is daunting, especially as the expectations
Despite the trend in some suburbs such as Brunswick for a reduction in car parks in new developments and incentives such as share car spaces and bicycle racks to encourage residents to abandon car use, car parks remain big business.