Home owners in Melbourne have quickly changed their auction dates after they’ve unexpectedly clashed with the replay of the AFL Grand Final:
“The family of five’s sprawling home – six bedrooms, four bathrooms and an underground garage with space for six cars – in Jacka Street, Essendon, has been valued by property agents Nelson Alexander at between $2.4 million and $2.6 million. It was due to go under the hammer at 4.45pm on Saturday but the auction has now been pushed back a fortnight to October 16.
It is one of about 60 auctions – originally scheduled for this Saturday – to be postponed, according to figures from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. Almost half had been scheduled at 2.30pm or later, which would have clashed with the game.
Buyer’s advocate David Morrell said the grand final replay had ”put a bullet through the October real estate period”, particularly at the medium-to-higher end of the market, where big advertising campaigns were often used to generate interest.”
I doubt that the Grand Final will affect auctions in places like Sydney or Brisbane, but as a former Melburnian I can understand why local sellers would be nervous about competing with Melbourne’s most significant sporting / religious event all year. And no, the “religious” tag is not inappropriate for many Melburnians when it comes to the footy.