PROPERTY LOOKS PROMISING AS THIS YEAR ROLLS INTO NEXT

Market reports for the first quarter of this year sounded like a familiar television commercial about supermarket prices being down, but will real estate prices really be staying down?

Interest rates, natural disasters and general financial market uncertainty had an impact on stalling property price growth but Australia has strong employment, average income growth and rents are rising faster than housing prices.

In May, L. Janusz Hooker, CEO of LJ Hooker, summarized the Australian property scene for the first few months of 2011 as follows:

· Sales volume for March was down on last year but grew back to pre-Christmas levels.

· The number of properties on the market was historically high.

· Affordable suburbs have done best.

· Rental rates and yields are up.

He anticipates a medium term recovery for the property market, but not necessarily taking place in the second half of this year.

"Out here in Cranbourne, many factors are improving two ratios that matter greatly to home buyers: the price of property compared with income, and the cost of renting compared with the cost of buying".

"Investors were viewing their returns as favourably improving, and the buyers were encountering a greater selection of affordable property as vendors positioned price expectations fairly in the current market."

“We are seeing solid buyer activity across all price ranges with the stand out range for sales being $250,000 to $400,000. Properties are staying on the market an average of 46 days, and prices most certainly are not tumbling.

“Auction programs are proving a very effective method of sale because vendors get real feedback on where buyers are prepared to go with a price and a deadline of roughly four-weeks spurs on buyers to make up their mind.

“And in this current market, choosing which property to auction is far more about the seller being genuine about the sale and their price expectation than about any particular ‘type’ of property.

“Nothing creates interest and profiles a property better than an auction marketing program, and in Cranbourne a four to six week sale period is proving very achievable for realistic vendors.”