A Melbourne real estate agent has revealed interstate investors are scooping up western suburbs homes before locals get a look in.
But the sellers agreeing to it might be costing themselves $50,000 or more, close to a year’s wage for some vendors, by not making their home available to the wider market.
YPA Wyndham City auctioneer Abdul Merabi said a growing share of agents in Hoppers Crossing and surrounding suburbs where home prices typically topped out at $700,000 were selling homes off market to interstate investors — without every publicly advertising the sale.
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While this could result in rapid, and easy sales for vendors, Mr Merabi noted it wasn’t always in the best interest of the seller.
Yesterday the agent sold 30 Thorpe Ave, Hoppers Crossing, under the hammer for $685,000, with four bidders vying for the three-bedroom house.
The sum was $65,000 above the home’s reserve price — and a similar figure beyond the best offers made by investors before the home went on the market and eventually under the hammer.
30 Thorpe Ave, Hoppers Crossing, is among the increasingly few homes in its price point to hit the open market in recent months.
Inside, the decor is still retro, right down to the red carpets.
An investor still claimed the keys, and Mr Merabi said he didn’t recall the last house he’d sold to an owner occupier in the area within the $500,000-$700,000 price bracket.
He estimated properties in that affordable band had posted a 5 per cent increase in the past three months — largely driven by investors.
“There are enough buyers and clients to sell to this way (off market),” Mr Merabi said.
“Every single property I list in Hoppers Crossing at these prices I am confident I can sell within a week.
“But sometimes we try that investor market and the price is still a bit lower than we think it should be and so we go to the wider market — and we get a higher result.”
The agent estimated that in many instances home sellers could be shorting themselves close to $50,000 or $60,000 by taking an offer before really considering if an off-market offer was really the best they would get.
The issue is believed to be prevalent across Melbourne’s most affordable suburbs, with prices typically under $800,000.
“And that extra $60,000 isn’t huge for the agent, but for the owner it could be close to their annual wage,” Mr Merabi said.
Property Home Base founder and buyer’s agent Julie DeBondt-Barker said the problem was right across Melbourne suburbs with median house prices below $800,000, with interstate buyer’s agents often overpaying for homes.
“It’s really wrong,” Ms DeBondt-Barker said.
“The sad thing is the homebuyers in Victoria are losing. The first-home buyers are getting pushed out, and they might be thinking it’s just really quiet — and not knowing the off-market sales are there.”
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