Buyers sold on Elsternwick, with highest auction clearance rate in Melbourne in March quarter: REIV
The Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick has been the stand-out performer in the first quarter of 2012, managing an auction clearance rate of 84%, according to figures compiled by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV).
Elsternwick, nine kilometres south east of the Melbourne CBD, was one of just five suburbs to achieve an auction clearance rate of 80% or more, well above the overall Victorian average for the quarter of 62%.
The second and third best performing suburbs – Mitcham (82%) and Mill Park (81%) – are both outside the inner-city ring, indicating that quality of homes is driving demand at the moment, not a particular price point.
Mitcham lies 20 kilometres east of the CBD, and Mill Park is 23 kilometres north-east of the city.
The inner-city suburbs of Fitzroy and NORTH MELBOURNE both managed auction clearance rates of 80% over the quarter.
| No of auctions in March quarter | Sold under the hammer | Price range | Median house price* |
38 | 32 | $254,000 - $2.1 million | $1.2 million | |
31 | 22 | $305,000 - $676,000 | $410,000 | |
27 | 22 | $369,000 - $805,000 | $587,500 | |
20 | 16 | $407,000 - $1.79 million | ($896,500 | |
40 | 32 | $320,000 - $1.32 million | $740,000 |
Source: REIV, *RP Data
Among those properties to sell in Elsternwick over the three-month period was this two-bedroom over-55 retiree unit (pictured below) in a complex of 20 apartments on Orrong Road, which sold for $495,000 through Celestine Eramo for ASL Real Estate Doncaster.
Another property to sell was this three-bedroom house on Gardenvale Road (pictured below), which sold for $940,000 through Biggin & Scott Elsternwick.
Elsternwick is situated close to the Balaclava and Glenhuntly Road shopping strips and Malvern Central shopping centre and has a median house price of $1.2 million, according to RP Data.
Knight Frank sales director Andrew Swinson recently described Elsternwick as “traditionally a very well-performing suburb with positive growth statistics and impressive potential for capital growth”.
The REIV’s Robert Larocca says a review of the suburbs with the highest clearance rates in the first quarter tells you a lot about the local market right now.
“Firstly, it shows that some places are defying the overall trend.
“Secondly, the lack of a clear defining common theme shows that it is the location and quality of the homes for sale that is driving demand, rather than pressure at one particular price point,” he says.
Larocca says buyers and sellers need to fully understand the local market they are buying and selling in “lest they turn up to an auction believing only six in 10 are selling under the hammer when, in fact, eight in 10 are – as in Mill Park, for instance”.
The March quarter clearance rate of 62% was up on the December quarter clearance rate of 55%, but lower than the 67% clearance rate in the March quarter.
The volume of auctions held was 17% lower than at this time last year, 9% cent lower than at this time in 2010 and 74% higher than at this time in 2009.
According to the REIV, auction and private sales achieved similar outcomes for vendors over the quarter.
The median price of a house sold at auction increasing by 2.3% from $700,000 in the December quarter to $716,500 in the March quarter.
For a house sold by private sale – as about three out of four are – the median price increased by 1.1% from $465,000 to $470,000.