NOVEMBER 1, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
(Damjan Janevski)
All aglow for a rosy show There’s never been a better time to stop and smell the roses. Wyndham council is calling on residents to dust off their picnic rugs, revel in the spring sunshine and enjoy a cheeky rosé or two on November 11 and 12 at the fifth annual State Rose and Garden Show. Held at Werribee Park’s State Rose Garden, the free event will include demonstrations and talks by some of Australia’s most respected gardening experts, live music, guided tours of the gardens, food trucks, plant stalls, lawn games and face-painting. Channel Nine “Garden Angel” Melissa King and Garden Guru’s Chloe Thomson will demonstrate spring garden projects, especially with Christmas and summer garden parties in mind. The pair partnered up just over a year ago to become the Gardenettes and have been producing short gardening videos with a retro flair on their Facebook and YouTube channels. Ms King said the Gardenettes was a gardening show for the Google generation. “We really wanted to capture a whole new generation of gardeners,” she said. Go to www.stateroseandgardenshow. com.au for the full festival program. CHLOE THOMSON AND MELISSA KING
Charlene Macaulay
Auction action surges By Charlene Macaulay Wyndham properties are now going under the hammer on Sundays and week nights to cope with the explosion of vendors choosing to sell their homes by auction. Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Gil King said Wyndham had experienced a record number of auctions this year, with 838 properties going under the hammer to date – more than double last year’s record figure. The clearance rate has increased slightly, from 79.1 per cent in 2016 to 81.9 per cent this year. But most Wyndham vendors still prefer to sell their properties privately, with 4351 homes
sold this way so far this year. Ms King said increased competition for homes further from the city was fuelling higher than usual auction volumes. Ray White Werribee principal Michelle Chick said her office last year ran auctions on Sundays and Thursday nights during daylight saving and she anticipated it would start doing so again soon. Ms Chick said that although some vendors were initially concerned at having an auction on a day other than Saturday, the sales results spoke for themselves. “No matter the weather, no matter the day, no matter what’s going on … buyers will show,”
she said. “We are finding a lot of interstate buyers coming here, and they’re just getting so much more for their money in comparison to Sydney. There are a lot more investors than first home buyers.” Ms Chick said Hoppers Crossing and Werribee were auction hot spots due to the Pacific Werribee redevelopment, with proximity to public transport also a drawcard. REIV figures back that up, with the two suburbs accounting for more than half of all Wyndham auctions. Hockingstuart Werribee senior sales consultant and auctioneer Samantha McCarthy said the agency had started running Sunday
and twilight auctions to cope with demand. She said the office was running about nine to 11 auctions a week, although 22 properties went under the hammer at the weekend for super Saturday. “I would say 90 per cent would be selling via auction, whereas two years ago, it would have been 10 to 20 per cent,” she said. “[Auctions] create a transparent environment for buyers to compete and, in turn, maximise the potential sale price for the vendors.” YPA Werribee director James Antonio said the agency’s five auctioneers were running all auctions on Saturdays, but other auction days had been discussed.