24 Prentice Street, Elsternwick is currently available for private sale.

The property will be open Wed 3rd Jul, 2:00pm-2:30pm.

We thought we should give you prior notice in case you know of anybody keen to move into the surrounding area.

Should you have any queries about this property, or any other real estate matter please do not hesitate to contact:

Sam Goddard 0448 870 454
Hugh Hardy 0407 339 807

13 Washington Street Toorak is currently available for private sale.
We thought we should give you prior notice in case you know of anybody keen to move into the surrounding area.
Should you have any queries about this property, or any other real estate matter please do not hesitate to contact:
Hugh Hardy 0407 339 807
Simon Hicks 0413 713 000

Buyers are trading up on the back of a prestige home surge.

Price growth in Melbourne’s $1 million-plus housing range is starting to bring flow-on benefits to the wider market. The prestige property sector has moved up a gear this year, mainly because more ”trade-up” buyers are chasing opportunities to upgrade their standard of housing.

Real estate commentators say that Melbourne’s top-end market is in much better shape than Sydney’s, and that strengthening demand for $1 million-plus homes here is rubbing off on sales of lower-priced property.

The senior economist at Australian Property Monitors, Dr Andrew Wilson, said on Saturday that Sydney’s residential market had recouped all the price losses it had incurred since capital city house prices began to fall in 2010.

By contrast, Melbourne’s median house price was still 4 per cent below its peak in June 2010.

Data collected by the Fairfax-owned Australian Property Monitors (APM) shows there are 30 Melbourne suburbs with a median house price of $1 million or more. Sydney has 110 million-dollar suburbs. ”We have seen very strong and rising auction clearance rates since Easter in both Sydney and Melbourne, with different segments within those two markets operating at different levels,” Dr Wilson said.

”We have a quieter prestige market in Sydney at the moment, but a more active prestige market in Melbourne.”

He said Sydney’s housing recovery was being fuelled by improving sales in the entry-level and mid-priced segments.

”In Melbourne, it has been the top end of the market that has lifted the wider market out of its correction phase and put it into a recovery phase,” he said.

”That has been driven by the fact that the Melbourne prestige market was up to 15 per cent below its previous price peaks. People started to see there was a lot of value in the prestige market.”

Rob Vickers-Willis, sales director of exclusive agency Abercromby’s, said the company’s sales in the June quarter to date were 28 per cent up on sales for the 2012 June quarter.

Since April, Abercromby’s has sold 38 Melbourne properties at an average selling price of $2.4 million. About 45 per cent were private or off-market sales and 15 per cent of properties were snapped up by overseas buyers.

Melbourne’s prestige market has three segments – $1 million to $2 million, a $2 million to $4 million mid-level top-end, and $4 million-plus.

Buyer’s advocate Mal James said $2 million to $4 million sales were strong. He believed the price falls seen since 2010 in the wealthy Stonnington and Boroondara municipalities had now been made up. ”Stonnington has been the big mover,” he said. ”Sales in Stonnington this year compared to last year are just chalk and cheese.”

Marshall White, which handles many $1 million to $5 million sales, is seeing more trade-up purchasers. Director John Bongiorno said buyers who owned lower-end prestige homes were trying to upgrade but some were being frustrated by a lack of stock. At many auctions of $1 million to $5 million properties there were now two to five bidders.

Dr Wilson said trading up made sense in this market. ”If you’re in the bottom end of the prestige market, a trade-up scenario works for you. Even though you have to discount your property, you are getting the higher-value property at a discount rate.”

Saturday’s auction clearance rate was 71 per cent, from the 632 auctions reported to according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. There are 680 auctions scheduled next weekend.

Source : Domain

‘SARGOOD HOUSE’, Loft Apartment

302/73 Flinders Lane Melbourne is scheduled for auction this Saturday 22nd June at 11.30am.
The property will be open prior from 11am to 11.30am.
Should you have any queries about this property, or any other real estate matter please do not hesitate to contact:

Hugh Hardy 0407 339 807
Sam Goddard 0448 870 454

Abercromby’s are delighted to report that we have successfully sold
174 Finch Street Glen Iris.

Well done Team – both Vendor & Purchaser are very happy!

174 Finch Street Malvern East is scheduled for auction this Saturday 15th June at 10.30am.
The property will be open from 10am to 10.30am.
Should you have any queries about this property, or any other real estate matter please do not hesitate to contact:
Jeff Gole 0419 401 677
Tim Derham 0438 332 844

The Autumn real estate market finished extremely well.

We have seen some exceptional results in the $2m-$5m price range over the past 3 months. This resurgence in the top end is due to a number of Baby Boomers selling the big family home to downsize.

Off market transactions continue to go from strength to strength, accounting for 71% of our business.

We recently sold a luxury apartment in Washington Street, Toorak for just under $6 million, still under construction.

We feel that with Winter now here and school holidays fast approaching, stock levels will slow but demand will continue to be strong.   To learn more about the premier, premium, independent partnership driven business, please feel free to contact us on 9864 5300.

Crackdown on landlords after surge in claims

Almost 1.3 million Australians own at least one investment property.

The Australian Taxation Office is targeting more than 110,000 rental property owners who have been identified through last year’s tax returns as making incorrect claims.

A team within the office known as ”the doctors” is using sophisticated analytical techniques, including data mining, to identify unusual patterns of claims. It is also targeting work-related expenses.

Rental property deductions have surged in recent years as investors prefer bricks and mortar to shares.

For the 2010-11 year, the latest for which data is available, almost $39 billion was claimed by landlords in deductions, an 18 per cent rise on the previous financial year. Investors are taking advantage of negative gearing, where the interest costs on the loan used to buy the property, and other costs, are greater than the rental income. The shortfall reduces the investor’s income on which income tax is paid.

Almost 1.3 million people own at least one investment property. About two-thirds of those with rental income reported a loss on the investment.
The assistant commissioner of client services and assistance at the ATO, Graham Whyte, said expenses can be claimed only for the portion of the year where the property is rented or available for rent. Expenses that cannot be claimed include those incurred while the owner is occupying the property.

The Tax Office is targeting the work-related expenses of 218,000 building and construction workers, and sales and marketing managers, as June 30 nears. It is writing to them because of rising work-expense claims and a high occurrence of incorrect claims in last year’s tax returns.

The main problem with work-related expenses is taxpayers not separating private expenses from legitimate work-related ones. Workers should make claims only where the expenses are incurred to earn an income.

Mr Whyte said about $18 billion of work-related expenses were claimed last financial year.
”The ATO focuses on occupations where the pattern is of large or rising claims, as well as claims that do not fit the pattern of a particular occupation,” he said.

Work expenses claimed incorrectly in last year’s tax returns include sales managers claiming for mobile-phone calls based on the time spent at work, rather than for work-related use.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/money/tax/crackdown-on-landlords-after-surge-in-claims-20130611-2o26i.html