Melbourne market resumes after Easter with prices booming

The Melbourne home auction market resumes this Saturday following last weekend’s pause for the Easter holiday break as latest price data confirms the booming local conditions.

Nearly 700 homes are scheduled to go under the hammer this Saturday which will be predictably well ahead of the small number conducted last weekend and also higher than the 494 listed over the same weekend last year

Melbourne’s west will be the most popular region for auctions on Saturday with 141 followed by the outer east 111, the north east 95, the inner city 71, the south east 70, the inner south 69, the north 68 and the  inner east with 49 auctions listed this weekend.

Craigieburn will host the most suburban auctions this weekend with 18 followed by Glen Waverley 13, Bundoora and Werribee each with 11 and Melbourne City and Mount Waverley each with 9 auctions scheduled.

No surprise that the booming Melbourne auction market with weekend clearance rates averaging 80 per cent this year has translated into strong prices growth.

Latest Domain data reports that the Melbourne median house price surged by 4.0 per cent over the March quarter to a new record high of $843,674. Melbourne house prices have now increased by a remarkable 15.2 percent over the past year which was the strongest result of all the capital cities.

Melbourne unit prices are also rising strongly, up by 4.6 per cent over the March quarter to a new peak of $494,589. Unit prices have increased by 12.5 per cent over the past year which is the highest annual result recorded since the June quarter 2010.

Melbourne house and unit prices will likely continue to rise over the remainder of 2017 driven by low interest rates, record level migration, rising investors, a solid local economy and a surge in first home buyers from mid-year following the end of stamp duty payments for this group.

Recent record levels of new apartment development have failed to impact Melbourne unit prices and although numbers will continue to rise this year, demand clearly continues to currently track ahead of supply.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Chief Economist Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn and Facebook at MyHousingMarket