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Whitord – Geelong Property News: The Reserve Bank of Australia has handed down another interest rate decision. For the ninth time in a row, they’ve kept interest rates on hold at 4.35 per cent. But this time around, the RBA made a massive pivot. For the first time in years, the Reserve Bank hinted at a coming interest rate cut. In its statement, the RBA noted that growth in output has been weak.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: We have 10 working days left before Christmas. Not that we are counting. Our office will close at 5pm on Thursday 19th of December and re-open on Monday 6th January at 9am. We have some really exciting homes coming to the market in the new year. It’s not too late to set your campaign and sale strategy in place with our agents. You have 10 days…….
Whitord – Geelong Property News: The ABS monthly CPI indicator, released yesterday for October, shows headline inflation has remained steady at an annual rate of 2.1%. While this is close to the bottom of the RBA’s target band, the data has been heavily skewed by the government’s temporary energy bill relief rebate and of course the RBA would be happy about this.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: With Amy our property manager now back working with us and settled into the role we are able to reflect on how lucky we are to have her back on our team after a five year hiatus. She is just on the ball and knows property management back to front. Property management in Victoria is now heavily legislated and my experience is that a large percentage of property managers aren’t up to speed with the legislation which can leave the rental providers open to heavy fines.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: With five workable Saturday’s until Christmas we are starting to look to 2025. We wanted to share an initiative we’ve been running during the Christmas and New Year period over the past few years. We give a sneak peek of the homes we’ll be marketing in the New Year to our database and on social media.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: The race for the American Presidency has been run and won. All eyes from around the globe were fixed to our TV screens yesterday as the votes rolled in and as it turned out Trump won in a canter. This went against most of the so called experts opinions and the opinion polls. This got me thinking about the real estate market predictions moving forwards and market forecasts. They don’t actually know, it is just their professional opinion.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: Inflation has sunk to a three-and-a-half year low of 2.8%, though mortgage holders anticipating imminent interest rate cuts will likely be left hanging by the Reserve Bank. Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) September data showed inflation was officially back within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) 2-3% target range, after a small rise of 0.2% in the quarter. It is the lowest annual inflation rate since the March 2021 quarter, adding the 0.2% rise is the lowest outcome since the June 2020 quarter fall which occurred during the COVID-19 outbreak, driven by free childcare.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: The Geelong Cup has been run and won. The Geelong Cup is another great attraction to our region, one of many. The weather Gods turned on the sunshine and a big crowd was in attendance. Pete and Laurie were in attendance and they said they had a wonderful day.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: We are certainly living in uncertain times aren’t we, and it appears a large majority of buyers are waiting for the perfect time to buy and vendors are waiting for the perfect time to sell. The stark reality is that there never is a perfect time. Our Prime Minister just forked out $4.3 million for a house in Sydney, so he’s comfortable with the market. Whether Trump or Harris win the election.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: National Australia Bank has brought forward its prediction for the first rate cut from the Reserve Bank to February next year, this will improve confidence for both buyers and owners. NAB has been an outlier among the big four banks in recent months, conservatively looking towards next May as the most likely time for a rate cut from the RBA. Its revised cash rate forecast this week, however, follows confirmation last week that headline inflation has fallen to its lowest level since August 2021
Whitord – Geelong Property News: With the AFL grand final now behind us it is go time for the Spring selling season to begin. If you are looking to sell this year you realistically need to be starting your marketing campaign in the next seven weeks to give yourselves a decent timeframe to sell before Christmas. We usually expect that in the days after the grand final that an abundance of new stock will hit the market but it hasn’t happened this year. This is a good thing as supply and demand is the number one factor in achieving a strong result in any market conditions.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: I, like many Geelong residents made the trip up the highway last Saturday evening to watch the Cats in the preliminary final, and what a great contest it was. Unfortunately, we didn't get the result we wanted but a great season from the Cats none the less.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: We had some good news to wake up to this morning. The US Federal Reserve has voted to lower interest rates by 0.5 percentage points in a sign that the global war on inflation is finally coming to an end. This move is expected to be welcome news for homeowners not only in the US, but also in Australia.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: Spring time is here again and the Cats are going deep into the finals action again. The Geelong community, whether you are a Cats fan or not has been blessed with such a successful team for a long period of time. How does this relate to real estate you might ask?
Whitord – Geelong Property News: Are we closer to interest rate reductions than we think? The national economy has ground to a halt, propped up by government cash and immigration while households slash spending as they experience recession-like conditions that may force the Reserve Bank to re-think its position on interest rates.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: The inflation figure has fallen again which is a step in the right direction. The monthly CPI indicator was 3.5% in the 12 months to July 2024, falling from 3.8% in June, the second monthly drop in a row. This is the lowest result since March 2024. The most significant price rises were Housing (+4.0%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.8%), alcohol and tobacco (+7.2%) and transport (+3.4%).
Whitord – Geelong Property News: We had the pleasure of sponsoring and supporting the Catwalk4Cancer event last Saturday night which was run by The Barwon Health Foundation. Fashion, fun and fundraising combined for a good cause. Held at the Geelong Arts Centre and hosted by Jacquie Felgate. Our very own Peter Fort did the live auction at the event and he did a fantastic job in raising much needed money.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: The real estate wheel has come full circle here at Whitford. Heidi and I both started our real estate careers working as a personal assistant for Laurie McGovan at Hayden Real Estate. We are very excited to announce that Laurie will be joining us here at Whitford as a residential sales agent. Laurie is a highly accomplished agent with 23 years of experience. His passion, enthusiasm and marketing expertise, coupled with his extensive local knowledge has enabled him to build lifelong relationships with his clients.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: You could hear the collective sigh around Australia at 2.30pm on Tuesday as the RBA left the interest rates on hold. That’s great news for the property sector. Most economists are now saying that the next move from the RBA will now be down but when will that be? November? February? Who knows, it is crystal ball stuff but the silver lining is that they are coming. As I have been saying for the last few months we are predicting a busy back end to the year with a more positive market. Spring is nearly here which is peak season for us and we can’t wait!
Whitord – Geelong Property News: When the threat of another interest rate rise was mentioned approximately four weeks ago the buyers that were in the market went into hiding. Yesterday’s inflation figures showed that the consumer price index rose to 3.8% in the June quarter from a year earlier. That result was consistent with economists’ forecast of 3.8% and was up slightly on the March quarter rate of 3.6%.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: Whitord – Geelong Property News: We are very excited to introduce the newest member of our team, Amy Jaques. A familiar face here at Whitford having worked here previously in property management, Amy is now returning to the Whitford Property Management Department, and will be taking excellent care of our rental portfolio and all your property management needs. We are very happy to have her back. With a decade in property management, Amy joins us as a highly experienced and diligent property manager.
For those of you who don’t know our sales agents are on your airwaves every Saturday morning. We are on a show on BayFM 93.9 between 8-10am called the Bay Property Guide and funnily enough we talk all things real estate and the general public can call in or message the show and ask property related questions.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: We are currently experiencing the calm before the storm. These mid year school holidays are always quiet for us in real estate but we are expecting a busy back end to this year even if there may be some turbulence along the way. We have listed some fantastic houses that will start to filter through to the market in the coming months and we are currently in talks with a good amount of vendors who are intending to bring their houses to market in Spring.
Fashion, fun and fundraising meets the runway! Whitford Property is proud to be involved in the 2024 Ceres Life Catwalk4Cancer event, proudly supporting Barwon Health's cancer services. Hosted by one of Australia's most loved presenters, radio host and social media personality, Jacqui Felgate, this event promises to be an evening filled with fashion and fun. Come along and see the Whitford Property team run the live auction and raise money for a very special cause.
Whitord – Geelong Property News: We are just days away from the end of financial year and we are half way through the calendar year. Can you believe it? If you are needing valuations on any properties that you own for tax purposes or just because you are interested in knowing the worth of your property please reach out to one of our sales agents as we would be more than happy to assist.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: I had a buyer say to me on the weekend at an open for inspection that the market will be soft until December 2025 because that’s when the first interest rate drop will be. I politely informed him that that three of the big four banks are predicting a rate cut in November this year.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: I came across this article during the week and it showed a graph which was produced by Oxford Economics and it forecasts where they believe house prices will be in three years time. They predict Melbourne will have 21% growth for houses and 20% growth for units. That’s huge, and I am aware we are not Melbourne but we are not far away and our growth usually follows suit with Melbourne.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: With a long weekend this coming weekend a quieter weekend on the real estate landscape can be expected. The low level of new listings is holding the prices steady. Canada has become the first G7 nation to cut their interest rates. Leading economies around the world are drastically slowing. Our economy only received 0.1% GDP growth in the first quarter of 2024 showing that our economy is struggling.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: We are certainly living in a turbulent world but we are starting to defy expectations. Our sales department is having one of the strongest sales months that we have had in nearly two years. What is the reason for that?
Whitford - Geelong Property News: Currently Australia’s and Geelong’s housing is so undersupplied that I've rarely encountered a supply-demand situation like we are currently experiencing. Autumn and Winter are historically a quieter time in terms of listings coming to the market but we are seeing very limited properties hitting the market.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: Buyer confidence is the number one factor influencing the real estate market under any market conditions. Is it starting to return? Our sales team believe it is. We are seeing multiple offers on properties which we haven’t seen for a long time. The hesitation in making offers also seems to be dissipating. Hopefully this trend continues.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: In the last four weeks or so we have experienced slightly higher numbers through our open for inspections and I saw a report during the week that finance approvals have had a sharp uptake recently. What does this mean? Buyers are getting themselves ready to buy, they are attending open for inspections and doing their research on the market and analysing sales data in preparation to buy.
Whitford - Geelong News: A number of our staff attended the dawn services for Anzac Day yesterday and we were blown away not only by the service but the younger generation who were in attendance and paid their respect to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and country. We here at Whitford would like to pay our respects to all of those who have served and sacrificed so that we can be here.
Whitford - Geelong News: Patience is a virtue as they say. Patience is exactly what we need in this current market we are in. Things are taking longer. Buyers are having multiple inspections on properties before they are making a decision.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: I saw an interesting article from Heron Todd White on the weekend and in particular their national property clock. It shows that Geelong is at the bottom of this market cycle. We tend to be approximately three months behind the Melbourne real estate market and this graph shows that Melbourne is at the start of its market recovery.
Whitford - Property Geelong News: We are currently in the middle of school holidays, and we have put Easter behind us. These school holidays are a relatively quiet time from a real estate perspective. We are looking for an uptick in both new listings to the market and buyer activity once the kids return to school.
Whitford - Geelong property News: The Easter long weekend is upon us already. Can you believe it? From all of our staff here at Whitford we wish you and your family a happy and safe Easter. Stay safe on the roads. Historically Easter is a quiet time for us in real estate. We will use these few days to recharge. The first quarter of the 2024 has still been a challenging time in the real estate sector with deals still hard to graft together.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: I was lucky enough to attend Geelong’s opening round match on Saturday night and witness the opening of the Joel Selwood stand in person and see what an amazing stadium we now have on our doorstep, it really is another of the many jewel’s in Geelong’s crown. To add a little extra excitement to the opening of the stand is the news that my favourite restaurant Chin Chin will be opening inside the stadium from late April, if you haven’t been before do yourself a favour when it opens, you won’t be disappointed. I say it regularly, but we are lucky to live in Geelong.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: The guessing game of when the interest rates will start to fall has officially begun. Australia’s economy is experiencing another “very soft quarter” of growth, all but ruling out another interest rate rise by the Reserve Bank despite inflation easing at a slower pace. The RBA board meets for a second time in 2024 next Monday and Tuesday. Callum is a highly knowledgeable real estate sales agent, and he is a rising star on the Geelong real estate scene. Watch the video and get to know Callum a little better.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: We want you to celebrate Easter with us here at Whitford and have the chance to win $500! All you have to do is head over to our Instagram account @whitfordproperty and guess how many Easter eggs are in the basket. This week we are getting to know our sales agent Peter Fort. Pete has been a high performing real estate agent for 28 years. Watch the below video to learn a little bit more about Pete and to see why he is the master of the finger point.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: Tomorrow marks my three year anniversary of taking over the business. It feels like those three years have flown by. We have certainly seen peaks and troughs in the market in this time including an unprecedented thirteen interest rate rises. I am very proud of the fact that in my tenure we have kept a very stable team.
Whitford - Geelong Property News: We know that in its effort to tame inflation, the Reserve Bank was hoping that unemployment levels would rise, and the latest jobless figure released last week was above 4% for the first time in two years. So, does this mean the Reserve Bank’s job is now done and we can expect interest rates to fall?
At times I think we can forget how lucky we are to live in Geelong and the lifestyle that it provides us. It is a truly beautiful part of the world with our prized waterfront, great cafes and restaurants and our easy access to the Bellarine Peninsula and the surf coast.
Most of you may know but some of you may not know that our team features on a radio program on BayFM on Saturday morning between 8-10am, the show is called the Bay Property Guide and covers all things real estate.
This week saw all of the kids across the Geelong region returning to school. My oldest son had his first day of Kinder on Tuesday and Katie’s two children headed back this week.
This long weekend is certainly a busy weekend for the Geelong region. We have the Cadel Evans bike race and the Festival of Sails along our prized waterfront. The bike race has the ability to impact our open for inspections on Saturday as the race weaves through Geelong and the Surf Coast. There will be road closures as the cyclists ride through, so please check the course before heading to one of our opens as we would hate for you to be stuck in a road closure.
Things in the real estate world are certainly looking brighter this year if the first two weeks are anything to go by. Buyer enquiry has been solid, and we have had a number of prospective vendors making contact with us about selling in the first quarter of this year. I remember coming back to the office in January last year and we were met with deathly silence, we knew we were in for a long year with the prospect of multiple interest rate rises hanging over our heads like a dark cloud.
Happy New Year, we hope 2024 is a prosperous year for everyone. We hope you all enjoyed a well earned break. Our team are now back on deck and we are very optimistic about the year ahead. With yesterday’s favourable inflation figures and the media now speaking positively about the future and the property market, we are tipping strong growth in property and with multiple predicted interest rate cuts we think this will only add fuel to the fire.
The Christmas break is fast approaching and I bet you are all counting down the days, we certainly are as it has been a long and taxing year with many ups and downs. Some key dates that you will need to be aware of are that our office will be closing on Thursday 21st of December at 1pm and opening on Wednesday January 3rd at 9am.
Australia’s economy surprisingly slowed in the September quarter, as the toll of higher interest rates hit consumers and trade turned negative. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.2% in the September quarter compared with the previous three months, marking an eighth consecutive quarter of growth.
Has Christmas come early for mortgage holders and the real estate market? Households are almost certain to be spared another rate rise when the Reserve Bank’s board convenes for its final meeting of 2023 next week after inflation eased in October. The latest consumer price index figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, showed annual inflation eased to 4.9 per cent in October, after prices grew by 5.6 per cent in September
It is becoming more and more apparent that we are experiencing a two pace market. There is the market for homes that have been renovated recently or they don’t need any maintenance and these homes are in high demand and there is the market for homes that need renovating/maintenance or development sites and these types of properties are far more difficult to sell.
With five working Saturday’s left until Christmas things are starting to get hectic in our office. Our sales team are frantically trying to get homes onto the market and sold before Christmas as well as trying to sell our existing stock, we feel the market might come home with a wet sail up until Christmas.
The RBA didn’t do us any favours on Tuesday lifting the official cash rate to 4.35%. What does this mean for the market? Buyer sentiment will be low until the dust settles and then buyer sentiment will improve.
It feels like Groundhog Day. Here we are waiting to see if we will we see a Melbourne Cup rate rise next week? The media says "yes", the bank economists say "yes", the market is split 50/50.
Newtown Giveaway - Celebrating our neighbourhood! We have an exciting giveaway happening so keep your eyes on our social media pages in the coming days as we will be launching a competition with some of our local Newtown businesses who each will be offering up fantastic prizes.
The official spring selling season has officially begun and there is one major factor that is already evident. The influx of new properties on the market that we expect in the week after the AFL grand final has not come as yet.
The AFL grand final long weekend is here again, and the weather gods are smiling on us. Let’s hope for a great game and an even contest that goes down to the wire.
Finance pre approvals have increased sharply recently which means buyers have been to their bank or mortgage broker and are preparing themselves to buy. Some banks have cut their fixed term loan rates, which means they are hedging their bets that there will be no more interest rate rises.
On a day like today I think it is much more important to ask this question than talk about real estate.R U OK? Is calling on all of us to let the people you care about know you're here, to really hear them. By taking the time for an R U OK? conversation and genuinely listening with an open mind, we can all help the people in our world feel supported and connected. Let the people in your world know you’re here, to really hear, because a conversation could change a life.
A third interest rate pause is leading us to see a lot more positivity in the market place. During the previous 18 months and the twelve interest rate increases every second buyer was asking us when we thought the hikes would end and it was creating a lot of uncertainty amongst buyers and was causing them fear to commit to a purchase. I now honestly can’t remember the last time a buyer said that to me but it would be a few months at least.
Households are almost certain to be spared from another rate rise when the Reserve Bank meets next week after inflation eased amid falling consumer demand. The latest Consumer Price Index figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, show annual inflation eased to 4.9 per cent in July, down from 5.4 per cent in June.
New data shows that high-end homebuyers splashed nearly $62m on the Geelong region’s most expensive residential properties in the financial year.The region’s ten most expensive homes sold during the 2022-2023 financial year reveal the appetite for luxury property in the region hasn’t waned.
In good news for those stuck in "mortgage prison", Australia’s biggest bank, CBA, has announced it will lower the stress test on select refinance applications from 3 percentage points to just 1 percentage point.
I found these recent stats really interesting and please note these stats are for Melbourne and not Geelong. Melbourne house values have only increased by a mere 1.6% between March 2020 and May 2023, which is significantly lower than other capital cities in Australia.
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