Vendors withdraw gym as pandemic undermines property market

“He’s pulled the sale because of concerns about the market,” Axis Property’s Daniel Liberman said. “We were getting negative sentiment about conducting the auction.”

In an effort to comply with government directives about social distancing, agents are hastily switching to expression-of-interest campaigns or telephone bidding.

Leased to international gym outfit Orangetheory Fitness, the 500-square-metre space on the ground floor of 422 Collins Street was expected to fetch about $6 million.

Mr Liberman said his agency was being “inundated” with calls from tenants and landlords concerned about the spreading impact of shutdown measures designed to contain the virus.

“I’ve got landlords who depend on the income from properties. They’re retirees and have no other income. And I’ve got tenants financially struggling also being affected,” he said.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia issued guidelines on Tuesday calling for a halt to public auctions, saying “unmodified public open homes and auctions” were “clearly irresponsible”.

“Public auctions … can still occur via telephone bidding or by using one of the many online auction platforms available,” it said.

Fergus Evans, whose agency Teska Carson successfully sold a shop at 283 Lygon Street in Carlton for $1.75 million on Friday, said many future listings had suddenly dried up. The Carlton shop was snapped up after auction.

“The majority of our stock, about 80 per cent, has been pulled or converted to expression-of-interest campaigns,” he said.

“There’s so much uncertainty in the market. I think it’s going to impact pretty significantly for three to six months.”

Gross Waddell’s Barry Novy said: “There is more activity right now than I would have expected.”

Two weeks ago, the agency sold a large single-storey garage at 49-51 Izett Street in Prahran for $6,535,000, a price sharply higher than expected.