Hi,

The REIV reported 729 auctions over the weekend producing a clearance rate of 79%.  443 sold at auction, 135 before auction, 1 sold after auction and a total of 150 passed in.  In addition, there were 182 private sales.  In comparison, last year there were 262 auctions reported resulting in a clearance rate of 85%.

The demand for property in Melbourne and some parts of Regional Victoria is not slowing down, even in the middle of winter and school holidays.  This demand however is not being matched with supply as some vendors are still not willing to put their properties on the market.  This is partly due to some vendors not willing to sell until they have purchased (and this has been taking many buyers extensive amounts of time) but others are just not confident that there is not another lockdown looming which is disruptive to a selling campaign.

The number of properties passing in at auction is also rising due to some vendor’s price expectations exceeding the amount a buyer is prepared to pay.  Some of these properties have been passing in well above the quoted price range.  Last week, The Age reported that Consumer Affairs Victoria has seen a huge increase in complaints about underquoting.  Whilst it is likely that some properties are been under quoted, there are some situations where the vendor has increased their reserve price just minutes prior to auction  There is no legislation that requires a vendor to be locked into a reserve price and it gives them the right to change their mind any time throughout a sales campaign.

Prices in the inner north have been soaring and the auction sale of 55 Arthurton Road, Northcote was no exception.   The three bedroom, one bathroom, updated home on 557 sqm proved very popular with buyers.  Even though the property has a south facing backyard, poor floorplan and was located on a busy road.  This does go to show the lack of quality stock on the market where compromised properties are gathering strong interest.  But….this property did boast 557 sqm of land and had been updated very appropriately which obviously appealed to buyers.  The property was quoted $1,400,000 to $1,500,000 prior to auction with the opening bid being $1,500,000.  Four bidders drove the price to $1,820,000 which was $300,000 over the reserve price.

Have a great week.

Kim Easterbrook