Melbourne's buyer confidence fed by surge in listings

Melbourne’s late summer auction market revival consolidated at the weekend with another solid performance.

Surging listings in recent weeks from Melbourne’s popular inner suburbs has predictably lifted market activity, with lower interest rates feeding into buyer confidence.

Melbourne recorded an encouraging clearance rate of 77.3 per cent on Saturday – ahead of the previous weekend’s 73.9 per cent and identical to the clearance rate during the same weekend in 2014.

It was the eastern suburban buyer hot spots that, again, provided standout results.

In total, 906 homes were listed for auction on Saturday, well ahead of the 473 auctions of the previous weekend but still significantly below the 1140 auctions during the same weekend in 2014. 

Melbourne’s solid auction results over the past two weekends might reflect lower listing numbers than the same time last year. Buyers are competing for fewer properties, particularly in the inner suburbs.

Next weekend, the Melbourne auction market will host its first Super Saturday of the season, as activity is brought forward to avoid a clash with the following Labour Day long weekend.

More than 1300 auctions are scheduled in the Melbourne metro area, which will be a record for a February Saturday. Despite these record numbers, February auction numbers will still be below those listed in February 2014.

High listing numbers next weekend, will provide a significant test for a Melbourne auction market that has produced unequivocally solid results over the past fortnight.

Over the weekend, the outer east was again the best performer, recording a strong clearance rate of 85.7 per cent. 

Next best was the consistently popular inner east with 82.8 per cent, followed by the inner south at 81.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, the north-east achieved 80.7 per cent, the south-east 78.6 per cent, the inner city 77.1 per cent, with the highest regional sales at 118, the west 70.8 per cent and the north 69.6 per cent.

Notable sales at the weekend included a seven-bedroom home at 20 Madden Street, Balwyn North, sold by Fletchers for $2,708,000; a four-bedroom home at 36 Bourne Road, Glen Iris, sold by Marshall White for $2,540,000; a one-bedroom home at 165 Ashworth Street, Middle Park, sold for $2,430,000 by Cayzer Real Estate; a four-bedroom home at 7 Wiringa Avenue, Camberwell, sold for $2,380,000 by Marshall White; and a five-bedroom home at 34 Park Grove, Richmond, sold for $2,280,000 by Jellis Craig.

The most expensive property reported sold at auction at the weekend was a five-bedroom home at 31 Cosham Street, Brighton, sold for $6,050,000 by Marshall White. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a one-bedroom unit at 5/90 Roberts Street, West Footscray, sold for $181,000 by Burnham Real Estate.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group senior economist.

Twitter@DocAndrewWilson