Sometimes you need a crystal ball for real estate

Sitting with a client yesterday and talking about the Melbourne property market we realised how this song describes it perfectly.

""Cause you're hot then you're cold,
You're yes then you're no,
You're in then you're out,
You're up then you're down."" (Katy Perry)..... and so it goes.

Being in the Melbourne property market every single day we are constantly asked about the market and what is going to happen next.

There is constant speculation as to whether the Melbourne property market will go up, down or stay the same, especially with a looming federal election just around the corner.

Everyone has an opinion and most of it is based on media hearsay. Unfortunately, you could ask 10 different economists and sometimes get 10 different variations on what will happen next and what the new year will bring for property in Melbourne. 

Sometimes it would be nice if we had a crystal ball, that would certainly make things easier.

This is what we do know...

1. The banks have relaxed their lending criteria and finance is now easier to secure than it was mid-late last year.
2. More people are out and about inspecting properties again and bidding at auction, rather than waiting and holding back. Even those properties that are passed in, if the price is right,  are selling soon after auction.
3. More properties are coming up for private sale as well as auction and again if the price is right these private sale properties are selling relatively quickly.
4. We had a correction in the market, some areas are starting to go back up and some are still quite low. There are plenty of opportunities out there, you just need to know where to look.

If you are looking to buy you need to keep a close eye on the Melbourne property market and monitor the trend so that ideally you buy before the market is on the upturn.

Remember any statistics you see are often based on settlement prices and not recent sales, so these figures can be 2 to 3 months old and the market in that suburb may have already started to go up.

It’s not about buying at the perfect time, it is instead about thinking long term

Buying property is a long term investment and not a short term proposition, so it's important to buy when prices are low rather than waiting for the market to heat up again and prices go back up.

There are no perfect conditions when it comes to property as there is always something going on in the world or the economy that the media will jump on and report doom and gloom preventing people from taking action.