Total number of Melbourne auctions slides down to 732 despite cuts to stamp duty

New changes to stamp duty were met without much notable excitement from Melbourne buyers, with auction numbers down and clearance rates only up marginally on Saturday. 

On Saturday, the Andrews government scheme came into effect, abolishing stamp duty on all properties up to $600,000 and offering savings for those up to $750,000. 

Melbourne reported a clearance rate of 73.5 percent at the weekend which was higher than the previous weekend’s 72.6 per cent rate and the same as the 73.5 per cent recorded over the same weekend last year.

On Saturday 732 homes were listed for auction in Melbourne, which was significantly lower than the previous weekend’s 911 but well ahead of the 208 auctioned over the same weekend last year that was impacted by Federal Election Day.

July typically records lower auction numbers with the mid-winter market particularly affected by school holidays. Auction numbers will be lower again next weekend, with nearly 650 homes set to go under the hammer.

Melbourne recorded a median auction price of $682,000 on Saturday, which was well below the $890,250 reported over the previous weekend and 2.5 per cent lower than the $699,500 recorded over the same weekend last year. A total of $307.7m was reported sold at auction in Melbourne at the weekend.

The Melbourne home auction market tracked backwards over June impacted by the usual mid-winter decline in activity from increasingly distracted buyers and sellers.

Melbourne recorded an overall home auction clearance rate over June of 70.7 per cent, which was down on the 73.4 per cent reported over the previous month but still higher than the 67.9 per cent recorded over June last year.

Although clearance rates were lower over the month, auction volumes have surged this year in Melbourne with 18,175 listings over the first 6 months of the year compared to just 16,083 over the same period last year – an increase of 13.0 per cent.

Melbourne recorded a median auction price of $877,250 over June, which was 1.4 per cent lower than the $890,000 recorded over May but 10.3 per cent lower than the $795,000 recorded over June 2016.

• Related: Click here for Saturday’s auction results
• Related: Click here for the Market Snapshot
• Related: First home buyers beaten at Highett auction

This week the Reserve Bank will convene for its regular monthly meeting to determine the direction of official interest rates over June. 

Although monthly unemployment measures can be volatile, the latest data from the ABS revealed a sharp decline in the national seasonally adjusted rate over May from 5.7 per cent to 5.5 per cent – the lowest result since February 2013.

With the recent sharp decline in the jobless rate, the Reserve Bank is now more likely to keep interest rates on hold at 1.5 per cent over the foreseeable future..

Outer suburban, lower priced regions produced strong results at the weekend which may reflect increased activity from first home buyers. Results in inner- suburban, higher prices regions however were again generally lower indicating the usual mid-winter distractions typical of the time of the year.

Melbourne’s south east suburban region was again the top performer at the weekend with another boom-time 87.2 per cent clearance rate. The north east followed with 83.7 per cent followed by the west with 76.2 per cent, the north 74.1 per cent, the inner city 72.7 per cent, the outer east 69.7 per cent, the inner south 69.0 per cent and the inner east with a clearance rate of 63.6 per cent.

Notable sales reported at the weekend included:

• A five-bedroom home at 24-26 Story Street Parkville sold by Nelson Alexander, for $3,395,000
• Another five-bedroom home at 25B Kenmare Street Mont Albert North sold for $3,285,000 by Marshall White
• A five-bedroom home at 160 Were Street Brighton sold by Hodges for $3,250,000
• A four-bedroom home at 63 Liddiard Street Hawthorn sold for $2,900,000 by Jellis Craig
• And a six-bedroom home at 113 Grange Road Toorak sold by Marshall White for $2,800,000.

The most expensive property reported sold at auction was a five-bedroom home at 52 Adelaide Street Armadale, sold for $5,200,000 by Marshall White. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a one bedroom unit at 10/30 Richardson Street Essendon sold for $291,000 by Nelson Alexander.