Melbourne auctions: Super Saturday to be a test of the auction market as prices rebound from downturn
Saturday is set to be Melbourne’s biggest auction day of the year so far, with more than 1300 properties to go under the hammer in a test of the housing market’s recent recovery.
The auction market has not seen a weekend this busy since the downturn began last year, pushing clearance rates below 50 per cent.
But after the federal election and a string of interest rate cuts, the market has been recovering and is now set for its first Super Saturday this spring.
Pent-up demand from buyers who have needed to purchase a property since before the market upswing, but couldn’t because only a small number of homes were for sale, have helped to keep clearance rates at about 70 per cent for months.
Prices are in their fastest rebound ever, spiking 4.1 per cent in the three months to September, the latest Domain House Price Report revealed this week.
Domain research analyst Eliza Owen said the last Saturday of October was a traditionally busy one for the property market.
“This Saturday there are 1364 scheduled so far and that is pretty well in line with the past five years for the last Saturday of October, and that’s because it marks the two Saturdays before the Melbourne Cup,” she said.
Median house prices, Melbourne regions
| Region | Median | QoQ | YoY |
| Outer East | $760,000 | 6.3% | 1.3% |
| Inner South | $1,230,000 | 5.6% | -0.8% |
| Inner East | $1,340,000 | 5.5% | -0.7% |
| West | $598,000 | 3.1% | 0.5% |
| Inner | $1,205,000 | 2.6% | 7.1% |
| North East | $687,500 | 2.6% | -1.9% |
| South East | $635,000 | 1.6% | -0.8% |
| Mornington Peninsula | $685,000 | 1.5% | 3.6% |
| North West | $611,500 | -1.1% | -0.6% |
Source: Domain House Price Report, September quarter 2019
Ms Owen said experts would be watching this busy weekend as an indicator of the health of the property market.
“The larger sample the better when trying to understand market sentiment, so there tends to be a lot of emphasis placed on the clearance rate on a Super Saturday,” she said. “The past four Saturdays, the clearance rate has averaged at 71 per cent and we’ll be looking to see if it’s the same.”
Marshall White director John Bongiorno said the upturn had taken most by surprise.
“The market has rebounded faster than anyone expected,” he said.
He was confident that Saturday should follow the path set during the previous month.
“It’s all looking solid again,” Mr Bongiorno said. “I think the clearance rates will be strong again.
“I think as we’ve seen over recent weeks, the number of bidders per auction is a lot.”
The agency is set to auction a four-bedroom contemporary home at 10C Avondale Road in Armadale this Saturday, with a price guide of $2.2 million to $2.4 million. The residence features a granite kitchen, open fire and northwest-facing courtyard.
Ray White Victorian and Tasmanian chief auctioneer Matthew Condon said buyers needed to be prepared to face tough competition this Saturday.
“If a bidder’s going to an auction on Saturday, you need to go with a strategy,” he said. “We’re still seeing buyers, if they want it they employ a lot of strategy like putting a big bid in to start the auction.”
Mr Condon is set to auction 2/16 Mantung Crescent, Rowville on Saturday with a price guide of $570,000 to $620,000.
He said affordable, single-level properties were popular at the moment.
“It’s appealing to the first-home buyer and downsizer market and there’s not many of those properties in the area at the moment,” he said. “Because there’s not an abundance of stock out there at the moment, there’s a lot of competition.”
We recommend
States
Capital Cities
Capital Cities - Rentals
Popular Areas
Allhomes
More
