Melbourne winter market arrives on a high

The Melbourne home auction market begins winter on the rise and with solid momentum after an autumn selling season of remarkably consistent results.

This weekend nearly 850 homes are scheduled to go under the hammer, which is well down on last weekend’s 1065 but well ahead of the 241 reported over the same weekend last year – impacted by the Queen’s Birthday holiday break, which is scheduled a week later this year over next weekend.

Recent auction numbers have waned compared to the same time last year, although the total number of auctions held this year prior to the Queen’s Birthday weekend is set to be higher than the total for the same pre-holiday period last year.

Melbourne’s west will host the highest number of auctions on Saturday with 137, followed by the inner south with 126, the inner city 114, the northeast 109, the inner east 108, the outer east 99, the north 61 and the southeast with 54 auctions listed.

Glen Iris again has the most auctions scheduled in Melbourne this Saturday with 16, followed by South Yarra 16 and Epping with 13, Glen Waverley 12 and several suburbs with 11 auctions listed, including Mount Waverley, East Bentleigh, Brighton East, Brighton and Greensborough.

The remarkably consistent Melbourne weekend auction market ended autumn last Saturday on a high note, recording its best clearance rate since April 16.

Melbourne reported a clearance rate of 75.2 per cent last weekend, which was higher than the 73.8 per cent the previous weekend but below the 82.8 per cent at the same time last year during the exceptionally strong market conditions at that time.  

Melbourne weekend clearance rates have averaged 75.1 per cent over autumn – higher than the 70.2 per cent averaged over the same late-spring period last year. Results have been consistent this year, with a high of 79.2 per cent on February 6 and a low of 73.1 per cent on May 7. 

The federal election campaign has proven no distraction so far to Melbourne buyers and sellers. The winter market will begin in earnest after the Queen’s Birthday with typically lower auction listings and clearance rates. Auction activity, particularly in higher-priced suburbs, usually hibernates through winter, awaiting the revival of the stronger spring market.

However, the Melbourne autumn market has certainly built a solid platform for a robust winter.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group’s chief economist

Twitter @DocAndrewWilson