COVID-19: Street record set at Point Lonsdale as coastal market faces quiet Easter
A street record for rare coastal gem in old Point Lonsdale is a sign that serious buyers will still be active over the Easter holidays.
Easter is supposed to be the busiest time of year for many real estate agents as buyers hit sea-change hot spots.
But this year is different, with holiday-makers being warned away from the coast amid strict social distancing rules to slow the COVID-19 pandemic.
While there won’t be crowds for cancelled open homes and public auctions, agents are continuing to put deals together.
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RT Edgar, Point Lonsdale agent Felix Hakins said social distancing rules hasn’t stopped motivated buyers from organising private inspections on the peninsula.
One of his counterparts has three booked for Easter Saturday as Melbourne buyers seek to relocate to the Bellarine Peninsula.
The pandemic also hasn’t put a dent in price hopes for vendors, with rare coastal gem in old Point Lonsdale setting a street record.
The four-bedroom house at 12 Cheshunt St was originally scheduled for an auction, but Mr Hakins said it was converted to an expression of interest campaign closing in late March, with buyers asked to provide their best and final offers.
He said buyers from Melbourne offered in the vicinity of $2.2 million for the property, which will become their permanent home.
Mr Hakins said vendors hadn’t been deterred by the public lockdown, with a number of properties set to hit the market in the hamlet in the coming weeks.
He said sellers were encouraged by the fact that interest in real estate had thinned out to motivated buyers.
“What we’ve found is every buyer is serious, there’s not the not time wasters.
“It’s really positive.
“Our expressions of interest campaigns are working very well,” he said.
The sale is another is a string of auctions converted to a sale by set date after the State Government banned public auctions.
It gives comfort to sellers that there remains interest in property in the early weeks of the shutdown.
New CoreLogic auction data shows the Geelong region market was strengthening in the March quarter, with the auction clearance rate rising to more than 67 per cent.
The analysts recorded 256 auctions in the three months to March, with the success rate rising from 62.8 per cent in the December quarter. It was 45 per cent at the same time last year.
Originally published as COVID-19: Street record set at Point Lonsdale as coastal market faces quiet Easter