NOVEMBER 7, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
(Marco De Luca)
Poppies’ all ages appeal Amid the enduring popularity of the national Anzac Poppy Appeal in Brimbank, organisers are delighted by growing interest shown by younger generations. Sunshine RSL sub-branch president Garry Collins said the distribution of poppies to schools was always well supported. “There’s always a heap of young faces in the crowd for these ceremonies, which is good to see,” he said. “It shows that the younger generations are being educated on things they might otherwise take for granted.” The annual Poppy Appeal began last week with more than half a million poppies expected to be sold across Victoria. Mr Collins said a dedicated group of volunteers was ensuring sales in the area would be strong. “Year in, year out, our community rallies together to support the Poppy Appeal in the lead-up to Remembrance Day and this year we’re hoping more people than ever get involved and wear a poppy in November,” he said. Poppies can be purchased from RSL sub-branches, Woolworths and Officeworks stores and from volunteer collectors across Victoria. BEN ARTHUR, KEVIN MURRAY AND IAN LAWREY
Tate Papworth
Mid-week sales on a roll By Stella Tzobanakis Religious and cultural factors are among the reasons behind record midweek and Sunday property auctions in Brimbank. The municipality has recorded the highest property sales during the week and on Sundays than any other council area in Melbourne’s west so far this year. Traditionally, auctions have been held on a Saturday. But Brimbank has bucked the trend, with 75 day and twilight auctions during the week and on Sundays, propelling it into
the top-10 municipalities in Melbourne for non-traditional auction days. Wyndham has the second highest result in the west with 44 auctions for the same period, and Melton came third with 42 sales. Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Gil King said in the year-to-date, 75 houses in Brimbank have sold on either a week day, night or Sunday. Mr King said the figures were “outside the tradition” for the area. “As auction activity has increased in Brimbank over the past few years, more vendors
are looking to sell their home on days when there are fewer auctions to compete with, such as Sunday,” Mr Gil said. “Religious and cultural factors are also behind some vendors opting to take their home to auction on a Sunday, rather than the traditional Saturday. “Brimbank, Wyndham and Melton have recorded some of the city’s highest volumes outside of the tradition. “Sunday auctions are particularly popular in the city’s inner south eastern suburbs with Glen Eira recording the highest volume this year.” Mr Gil said Brimbank home owners were
also experiencing “strong results at auction” with a year-to-date average clearance rate of 75 per cent. Overall this year, Brimbank has had a 40 per cent growth in auction sales – including properties sold on Saturdays – from 789 (2016) to 1105 sold in the municipality to date. The most amount of properties have been sold in St Albans to date this year (182), followed by Keilor East (124), Sunshine (98) and Sunshine West (97). Keilor North has recorded the lowest number of sales with one house being sold in the suburb.