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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Melbourne house hunters would be well placed to buy property in the next six to 12 weeks, while market conditions still favour the buyers.
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According to JPP Buyer Advocates director Ian James, there are several major factors driving the Melbourne property market both now and for the next six months.
“In short, it will be a “buyers’ market” for the next six to 12 weeks before reverting back to a “sellers’ market” and a sharp increase in property prices from approximately March onwards,” Mr James said.
“This will be far more pronounced in the top third of suburbs in Melbourne. In fact we could even see a stall or drop in the overall Melbourne median house price due to falling prices in “New Estate” areas.”
According to Mr James, most buyers who are informed about the property market from what they read in the media are sitting on their hands. Even though there are plenty of good properties out there to purchase at very good prices.
“Many people decide to do nothing when there is indecisiveness in big business. For the smart investor now is the time to buy a bargain,” he said.
Mr James said Australia currently has a confluence of instability.
Firstly, our federal government is still in turmoil. And further to this we have a state election coming up shortly and most commentators are agreeing it is too close to call.
Add to this the fact that for the first time in recent memory three out of four banks did not raise their own interest rates in the same week as the Reserve Bank raised the cash rate.
“We also know that jobs growth is striving ahead, unemployment is incredibly low and the economies of our major trading partners, China and Japan, are growing very steadily. All this adds up to rising property prices,” he said.
“I believe most of the short term instability will dissipate by early in the New Year and that after a stalling of price growth over the next 8 to 12 weeks, prices will again take off. March, April and May 2011 will probably run as hard as they did this year.”
