September 5th, 2020Real estate records smashed by keen buyers

And they are looking for special trophy properties rather than choosing specific townships or regions.
Ms McQueen said her company had seen some amazing sales of properties over the past few months with more properties coming up.
She said she had broken her own regional sales record two weeks ago at 9 Hill Street in Clunes when it sold for $2.68 million.
And then smashed that again just last week with a property, not even being marketed, within 15 minutes of the goldrush town.
“With Hill Street we did a very beautiful marketing campaign which was very high end and vast-reaching which started less than a week before stage four lockdown began and sold it in that first week.
“With the second one it was again sold in the middle of the pandemic and stage four lockdown to the same type of buyers as Hill Street. Very professional, incredibly busy, high-end buyers who want something very special. The second property went to people who didn’t even have this area on their radar but we had built a relationship with them and were able to sell if off-market, very quietly and very confidentially. Happy days for everyone.”
Ms McQueen said she had a lot of experience selling high-end properties through regional Victoria and Australia, and buyers were not looking for a township but a special property.
“These properties are special and unique in that they very much stand alone when we price them. We don’t think about what sold in the town or region because there is going to be nothing like it around. We are specialists in this area of sales. The buyers are looking for an attractive region and usually within a drive to restaurants and cafes, but it is about the property itself. I call it a compound, they drive in the gate, close the gate behind them and just enjoy this incredible world they have entered.
“These buyers tend to be affluent Melbourne executives and business owners and they also appreciate the history behind a lot of these properties. For example, Hill Street was a very historic property and the owners had renovated to a level that is on par with any of the best properties I have sold in Toorak. Our buyers are very mindful of that, so whether it be Clunes or Daylesford or Kyneton, wherever it is, is a little bit irrelevant. They are looking for the ideal property rather than what is around it.”
Ms McQueen said some recent sales included Stone and Straw on the Midland Highway just out of Daylesford for $1.55 million – in one week. Twenty-seven acres in Drummond with a three-bedroom house for $1.265 million – when the asking price was $1 million to $1.1 million, and an older-style house on an acre at Kyneton for $1.7 million.
“I know everyone is sick of reading about it but what we are seeing at the moment really is unprecedented. We are selling month-on-month, each time we think we can’t sell any more and the next month we surpass it. It really is quite amazing.
“And it is definitely families and older couples coming up from Melbourne to Central Victoria. They see it as a great place to raise their kids and grandchildren and something they have always dreamed of but never been able to do because they have been working five days a week in banking or Collins Street.
“Now they are working from home and people have more options and choice to conduct their business from home or maybe commute two days a week, that sort of thing. It’s just incredible.”

Words: Kyle Barnes
Images: Contributed

This is the second in a series of features on what’s happening with real estate in the Central Highlands.