386 - Buying In Melbourne & Mt Hawthorn Suburb Update ft. Hamish Laidlaw

Host Trent Kins spotlights Mount Hawthorne and interviews Hamish Laidlaw, director at Acton Bell, about Perth’s post-Easter market conditions (stock in the 3,000s, median near $1m, days on market around nine) and the Cook government’s apartment finance underwriting policy. Laidlaw compares Melbourne’s auction-centric, four-week campaigns and unconditional buying culture with Perth’s FOMO-driven private treaty environment, explaining how auctions can condition sellers in softer markets but aren’t currently ideal in Perth. They discuss tactics for buying in Melbourne (including post-auction negotiation) and in Mount Hawthorne, where buyers split between entry-level character homes around $1.6–$1.7m and “forever homes” in the high $2m range, often funded by local equity. Laidlaw suggests stronger terms like removing finance clauses and offering rent-back options, and names Matlock (and The Boulevard) as his favorite streets.