Popular Melbourne suburbs where homes are selling quickest

Houses are being snapped up quickly in a string of more affordable suburbs in Melbourne’s outer east as buyers scramble to purchase property they can afford.

Homes in Maroondah, which covers suburbs including Ringwood in Melbourne’s outer-east, have been selling the quickest, with properties listed for private sale spending a median 39 days on market in the six months to August, Domain data shows.

Properties for sale in Knox and Kingston also moved quickly, spending an average of 40 and 48 days on market in the same time period.

Domain head of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said houses were moving faster in more affordable areas, while premium locations experienced longer days on market, as buyers with tighter budgets look to lock in property before the year’s end.

“Stock is staying on the market longer, it’s showcasing that buyer and seller pricing expectations not meeting one another … there will be buyers that really are keen to make that purchase and that urgency will rise among certain buyers,” she said.

Powell noted premium homes could take longer to sell because the pool of buyers was smaller, with days on market blowing out in some sought after suburbs where sellers are reluctant to lower price expectations.

Homes in Stonnington (east) took a median of 82 days to sell in the past six months, while Essendon properties stayed on market for a median 73 days.

Melbourne’s overall median days on market have blown out over the past year as the property market weakens, hitting 66 days in August, six days more than a year ago.

The figures come as potential home buyers have been under pressure from higher interest rates that reduce how much money they can borrow. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock warned this week 5 per cent of home borrowers were in a “particularly challenging situation” and some may need to sell their homes.

Commonwealth Bank head of economics Gareth Aird said homes lingered on the market when sellers and buyers were unwilling to shift their price expectations.

He added that houses taking longer to sell signalled a cooling market.

“A seller wants a particular price, a buyer is willing to pay a particular price, and if expectations aren’t aligned, then a property will just sit there,” Aird said.

“That usually happens in a market that’s softening because in markets that are pretty hot, properties don’t tend to sit on the market for all that long.”

Aird added that reduced borrowing capacity, caused by high interest rates, has caused some buyers to reduce their budgets and look to cheaper-priced suburbs.

“With interest rates much higher than they were a few years ago, borrower capacity has gone down, so for a lot of people trying to get into the market, if they can enter at a lower price point, that’s what they’ll do.”

Retiree Trevor Molloy is selling his Vermont South home of 20 years to move to the coast, and is confident his spacious property will be purchased within a month of listing.

He said families attracted to the area by the schools, transport and green spaces were interested in larger homes like his, with demand often outweighing supply.

“Houses like mine seem to move fairly fast,” Molloy said. “There are not a lot of four-bedroom houses in Vermont South or Vermont on the market at the moment.”

Docking Real Estate director Adam Docking agreed family homes were rarely put up for sale in the area.

“People are keen to move into the area and because the houses are so tightly held, when they come up, they’re snapped up fairly quickly,” Docking said.

Vermont South is located in the Whitehorse (east) area, where homes spent a median of 59 days on market in the six months to August.

Docking said while buyers were keen to break into the Vermont South market, days on market have lengthened over the past year as sellers reevaluate their price point to meet tighter budgets.

SOLD - $570,000

2/326-328 Maroondah Highway, Ringwood VIC 3134

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“A lot of properties are hitting the market at a higher price. They may be on the market for a week or two before the prices are adjusted to what is correct to the market … so we’re probably seeing a little bit of a delay,” he said.

Ray White Ringwood director Chris Watson said some lower priced homes were being sold in as little as three weeks in the Maroondah area.

“There’s a healthy level of buyer demand, so it’s pretty rare that we would have an open home where no one comes through,” he said.

“Some properties aren’t selling very well, but they’re the ones that are perhaps a little bit overpriced, or perhaps they’re a little bit poorly presented. But the ones that are presented well, we’re selling them in 21 days, sometimes even quicker.”