The suburbs where owners are queuing to sell: Melbourne weekend auction preview

The suburbs where owners are queuing to sell: Melbourne weekend auction preview
Robert LaroccaDecember 7, 2020

The residential property market differs from suburb to suburb in many different ways.

Some suburbs are tightly held, some are in high demand from buyers and in others, sellers are seeking to capitalise on improved local conditions.

It is in these suburbs that CoreLogic RP Data has recorded a substantial increase in the number of houses listed for sale compared to a year ago.

In undertaking this analysis only those suburbs within a 30 kilometres of the CBD have been considered as outside of this, development suburbs become more prevalent and that affects the outcome. In those suburbs the high rate of listings is a factor of developers’ centralised decision-making as opposed to the individual decisions of 100’s of owners.

The suburb where owners have been seemingly queuing up to sell is Doncaster.

Compared to a year ago there has been a 41% rise in listings. Over the same time the median sale price has grown by 15.5%, well in excess of the citywide 9.7%. This suggests that sellers have been motivated by high buyer demand.

Second on the list is Heidelberg Heights with a 33.3% rise in listings. Not unlike Doncaster, sellers have been rewarded for their decision with the median sale price rising by 14%.

Third on the list is Burwood East where those seeking to sell have increased by 30.9%. It is followed by Sunshine, Forest Hill, Preston, Parkdale, Vermont South, Glen Iris and Altona North.

The common factor in each case is an above average rise in the median selling price. Now of course there are exceptions to this, for instance Bayswater has seen a 17% fall in listings and 11.5% rise in the median selling price but the in the majority of circumstances strong local markets encourage owners to sell.

There are 1,570 auctions scheduled this week in Melbourne compared to 1,535 for the same time last year. The highest volume of auctions will be found in Mount Waverley where there are 26 expected.

The November CoreLogic RP Data November Home Value Index showed that house values fell by 2.8% and unit values fell by 1.5%.

The market in Melbourne clearly slowed in November as volumes rose and the clearance rate dropped resulting in a reduction in property values.

Over the year the Melbourne property market has showed healthy growth. With one month left in 2014 house values have risen by 6.5% and units by 1.6%. Viewed in conjunction with what has been a small rise in transactions compared to last year these results show a moderate and not booming market.

The clearance rate for November was 66.8% and there were 5,722 auctions held with 3,819 selling. This is lower than the 68.2% recorded last year

Volumes look set to remain high until the end of the year and this will be welcomed by buyers, especially as the clearance rate has been edging lower.

On a citywide basis, the time on market results for houses sold at private sale rose from 31 to 32 days over the last week and vendor discounting eased slightly to -4.9%.

Key data

  • Clearance rate week ending 30 November: 63%
  • Melbourne auctions expected week ending 7 December:  1,570
  • Melbourne private sales time on market week ending 30 November: 32 days (houses)
  • Melbourne vendor discounting market week ending 30 November: -4.9% (houses)
  • Listings being prepared for market are 0.5% higher in month ending 30 November (seasonally adjusted)

Robert Larocca

Robert Larocca is Victorian housing market specialist for CoreLogic RP Data.

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