Broken Hill Real Estate Agent Matthew Handberg wins awards

Matthew Handberg (left) and John Bent
source - CENTURY 21 website

Real Estate
Broken Hill real estate agent Matthew Handberg has been honoured by his colleagues at CENTURY 21 at the global real estate chain's recent Annual Gala 2012 Awards event held in Adelaide.

I have met Matthew a few times whilst in Broken Hill and I have found him to be very helpful and informative. He was kind enough to be interviewed and quoted for my 31 October 2012 Broken Hill Real Estate Report post, when he gave me the 'head's up' about the local Broken Hill real estate market.  I am not surprised to read about his awards in today's Barrier Daily Truth newspaper (page 12).

Matthew was awarded 'Top Regional Principal 2012' and 'Rookie of the Year 2012'.  He was inducted into CENTURY 21 Masters Club for high achievers and was also honoured with the prestigious Platinum Sales Award for the 4th Quarter of 2012.  His CENTURY 21 McLeods Broken Hill colleague John Bent was also honoured with a Gold Sales Award for the 4th Quarter 2012.  It sounds like the last few months in 2012 in Broken Hill must have seen quite a bit of residential sales activity.

I congratulate Matthew and John on their awards, well done.

Cheers, Jane D

Broken Hill Real Estate Report October 2012

Quintessential renovator's delight
miner's cottage

Real Estate
I was pleased to catch up with Century 21 McLeods Broken Hill real estate agent and Principal Matthew Handberg last week when I visited the City for a long weekend.  I have been keen to do a story about the Broken Hill real estate market since I started my blog last December so here it is!

I firstly asked Matthew whether there was a noticeably better time of year to sell a property in other words was there some kind of "seasonal" trend?  He indicated there was not really an obvious "better" time to sell.  This year - 2012 - saw a good July which is mid winter and can be pretty cold in Broken Hill, especially at night.

I asked Matthew if some of the new mining opportunities and alternative energy projects such as the Silverton Wind Farm could have a positive influence on the market and he felt that over the longer term, there would be a positive influence.

He confirmed my observation of recent sales activity that this was indicative of vendors becoming more realistic.  He indicated that if a property was on the market for more than two months it was a sign that the property may be overpriced.  The vast majority of houses in Broken Hill, it should be noted, are sold privately, auctions are very rare.  For those not aware, in my home city - Melbourne - it's quite the opposite, especially for inner city property which is for the majority of cases sold via auction.

Classic miner's cottage also, in this
case a renovator's delight

There has generally across the board in Australia, been a little bit more confidence in the property market and lower interest rates also will tend to stimulate the property market.  These factors combined with more realistic vendors Matthew felt produce a net result that in general, locals are feeling a bit more confident to upgrade.
One thing that is keeping the median price down, which at date of my interview with Matthew on 22 October 2012, was $105,000, was high stock levels at the lower end of the market.  Once this begins to clear, the median price should increase.

I looked at some figures Matthew provided on Sales numbers and median prices since 1994 from www.pricefinder.com.au and a few points to note are, in that time period, 2003 saw the highest number of house sales - 765 houses sold, and the median price for a property then was $48,000.  The next busiest year was 2007 where 665 houses were sold and the median price was $120,000, which was a jump from a median price of $83,000 the previous year (2006).  In 2010 only 240 houses sold and the median price was $102,750.  Things picked up slightly last year in 2011 where 311 houses sold with a median price of $117,500.  This year's figures remain to be seen.

Good rental returns are available.  I'll have a little more on that topic soon.

Cheers, Jane D