The Value Of Your Home

Many property owners are receiving their Council rate notices at the moment and in addtion to the amount of rates charged a great deal of interest is generally shown in the value of the property.

It is important to know however, that the value determined to your home by the Council is not always the same amount you will receive if you were to sell your home tomorrow.

The primary purpose of council valuation is to provide a basis for determining the property owner's contribution to the council's consolidated revenue.  The valuation is determined every two year's on the 1st of January by qualified valuers' engaged by your council.

The council valuation will provide a guide as to the price you may be able to acheive if you are intending to sell.  However you should always undertake a number of other steps to determine the value of your property.

You can ask an REIV member, such as ourselves, to undertake a market appraisal.  This will provide you with the opportunity to discuss with us the factors that impact property values.

When your property goes on to the market it is important to remember that prospective buyers often look at a range of homes within the same location.  As such it is wise to make an effort to understand the local market.  You can do that by checking sales results each Saturday night at www.reiv.com.au or in the Sunday newspapers.  There are also a range of websites that will provide you with information about how much properties in your area have sold for over the last few weeks, months or years.

Finally, when you actually sell, remember that the demand for your home will be influenced by what other properties are for sale in your area and the number of buyers looking.  This means that the marketing and preparation of the home will also influence the sale price.

Information taken from REIV website 31/08/09

First Home Buyers Dominate Sales

The REIV June quarter median prices reports on suburbs with the most sales and not surprisingly all of the top ten except one have a median price below Melbourne as a whole.

Frankston topped the list with 164 homes sold compared with 148 in the March quarter and only 120 in the June quarter of 2008.  Frankston has a median house price of $310,000 which makes it very affordable and largely explains the strong increase in sales over the last 12 months.

Second on the list was Point Cook, an area that is home to a substantial amount of development as a result of the demand from first home buyers.  The REIV recorded 146 house sales in a suburb which also topped the list of recipients of the first home buyer's financial assistance.

Sunbury was third on the list with 138 sales, down on the 156 recorded in the March quarter.

Werribee (which includes areas such as Wyndham Vale, Tarneit & Truganina) was fourth on the list with 132 sales, an increase of 24.  Along with the more expensive Point Cook, Werribee shared top spot on the list of recipients of the first home buyer's financial assistance.  The two suburbs have been subject to 1200 applications in the twelve months to 31 July.

Fifth of the list was Berwick which has a median of $400,000 and recorded 115 sales this quarter.

Rowville, whose median price is $460,000 is the only suburb with a median above Melbourne as a whole and it recorded 108 sales as compared to 90 in the March quarter.

From an overall perspective house sales in the Melbourne market are dominated by suburbs whose median price is below $400,000 with a 48.5% of all sales occurring in this segment over the quarter, a fact that is in stark contrast to the 6.3% of all sales which gain much more attention and have a value in excess of $1 million.