All roads lead to Kenmore

All roads lead to Kenmore It’s been fantastic to witness a flurry of new listing activity and busy open houses throughout Kenmore this month. Most exciting is the depth and variety of property on offer – there really is something for everyone, including (encouragingly!) first-home buyers. The buzz follows our prediction last month that Kenmore is at the stepping-off point of an upwards property surge, having completed a 6.5-year cycle that saw the median house price increase by 82.26%. According to our research, price growth in Kenmore has accelerated considerably during the past eight months, with the median house price in the suburb moving from $395,500 at the end of 2006 to $451,000 in June 2007 – an increase of 14.03%. Indicatively, a home on 600m2 in Currong St that sold for $310,000 last December recently changed hands for $395,000. Similarly a home in Parkway Place has just sold for $655,000 - $103,000 more than it sold for in November last year. The combination of increasing demand for western suburbs property and a steady decline in the number of homes listed for sale in recent years has contributed to rising prices in Kenmore. Since the peak of 2001, stock levels have dropped from 392 homes sold to just 200 in 2006. In the early part of 2007, more than 128 Kenmore properties have changed hands, indicating a definitive shift in market activity hampered only by a shortage of stock. This month’s momentum is not surprising in cyclical terms. One would expect that the rush of owners who bought into Kenmore back in 2001 are now, or will soon be, looking to downsize or upsize given property’s average propensity to turn over every seven years. This, combined with high demand and a climbing median price, suggests that Kenmore is on the brink of a fresh upswing. Confidence is high, demand is strong and we should see supply follow suit. In short, it’s all happening!