Melbourne home auction market builds up

Buyer and seller activity in Melbourne continues to rise as a robust, early season home auction market strengthens.

Auction numbers will surge again this weekend as nearly 1200 homes are expected to go under the hammer; well ahead of last weekend’s 930 but below the 1341 auction figure at the same weekend last year.

Lower numbers this weekend compared with 2015 reflect the usual pre-Labour Day long weekend lift in activity that will come a weekend later this year.

Inner suburban properties will comprise most homes auctioned this weekend as the market is clearly in full stride.  

The inner south will host the most auctions this Saturday with 194, closely followed by the west with 191, the inner city (180), the inner east (147), the north-east (146), the outer east (134), the north (99) and the south-east (62).

Reservoir will host the most auctions in Melbourne this weekend with 22. The next highest is Glen Waverley with 20, followed by both Brighton and Brunswick (17) and several suburbs with 16 auctions listed, including Kew, Mount Waverley, Port Melbourne and Preston.

Another leap in listings is likely to be comfortably absorbed by the Melbourne auction market, which continues to favour sellers in all regions and price ranges.

Melbourne reported a 77.9 per cent clearance rate last Saturday; higher than the 75 per cent recorded the previous weekend and the 77.3 per cent rate at the same weekend last year.

The Reserve Bank next week meets for the second time this year to determine the direction of official interest rates in March. Although rates are likely to remain on hold for the 10th consecutive month, the RBA will be alert to the weaker jobless numbers. If those figures continue to deteriorate, rates likely will fall sooner rather than later. 

Andrew Wilson is Domain Group’s chief economist.

Twitter @DocAndrewWilson