Hi,
The Domain clearance rate is sitting at 67% for last weekend with 868 auctions reported and 583 selling at auction. In comparison, the same time last year the clearance rate was 60%.
There has been a lot of hype over the Melbourne property market over the past month. The interest rate cut and media reports/investor sentiment that Melbourne is undervalued, has created increased interest in Melbourne’s property market. However, with a federal election looming and Trump’s tariff policy creating havoc, there is still an element of caution out there with buyers.
It is evident that the property market is in better shape than it was in 2024, however stock levels have risen and whilst there are more buyers in the market, they are cautious and not overstretching budgets to get into the market. Interest rates and inflation have affected cost of living and borrowing capacity and therefore buyers have strict budgets when they buy property.
Corelogic data showed that in January Melbourne’s property prices declined by 0.6% but February showed an increase of 0.3%. It feels like the property market has stabilised and whilst there is strong competition on some properties, generally speaking it appears that most properties are selling exactly where the value of the property is at.
I believe buyers still have a window where conditions are favourable (keeping in mind that quality family homes seem to be where the most competition lies) until we see further interest rate cuts which may still be 3 to 6 months away.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi,
The first Super Saturday was scheduled last weekend and resulted in over 1,020 auctions being reported to Domain. Of those, 679 sold at auction achieving a clearance rate of 67%. This equals last week’s clearance rate of 67% on 718 auctions and ahead of last year’s clearance rate of 61%.
The property market is now in full swing and last week’s Super Saturday was a good starting point to gauge how the market is currently performing. There is definitely a lot more interest and higher confidence in Melbourne property this year. But…we are not seeing any signs or willingness from the majority of buyers to push their budgets to secure a property. Many properties are selling exactly where they should be in terms of value.
Price quote ranges are all over the place and are showing no indication of where the reserve price is going to lie. I bid at two auctions on the weekend, one auction didn’t reach the reserve price until 10% over the top of the quoted range… the other auction reached the reserve price in the middle of the quoted range and sold within the range, under the hammer, with three bidders. In both instances, the properties sold pretty much where the value was and the under bidders had firm budgets with what appeared to be no wriggle room above that. So whilst thus far we are seeing more activity, more buyers circling, more bidders, the auctions we have attended, mostly have not seen runaway results.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi,
Good news for borrowers today with the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting interest rates for the first time in four years. The cash rate has been reduced by 0.25% to 4.10%. Banks have recently been lowering their mortgage rates in anticipation of the interest rate cut today and it is speculated that the big banks will almost certainly pass the first RBA cut on in full to their variable rate borrowers.
It is likely the RBA will use a conservative ‘wait and see’ approach but this may be the start of the cash rate’s downward cycle. It will be unlikely that we will have another interest rate cut at the next meeting on the 1st of April, but if inflation stays under control and the jobs market doesn’t become stronger, we might be in for another rate cut mid-year.
And most economists and banks agree there are more cuts on the way, three of the four major banks are predicting a minimum of four rate cuts this year with ANZ predicting there will be two interest rate cuts this year.
This also could mean the end of the sluggish property market in Melbourne with reports of increased numbers at open for inspections last weekend and even we have seen a spike in new buyer enquiry over the past 24-48 hours. It will take a good month or so to really see what the immediate effect will be on property prices (if any), but it’s nice to see some optimism in the back in the Melbourne property market again.
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi,
The Domain clearance rate improved this weekend resulting in a clearance rate of 70% on 604 auctions reported. 422 property sold at auction and 130 passed in. This is higher than the 65% clearance rate recorded last year.
The team has had a busy week purchasing properties and although there is a sense of confidence in the market, buying conditions still appear to be favourable to buyers. Open for inspections are busier than last year however many buyers have just started their property journey, researching the market, and taking their time to ensure they purchase the right property.
Lots of talk about an interest rate cut tomorrow, the four major banks are predicting that interest rates will be cut by 0.25%. There is a small minority of economists who believe interest rates will remain on hold due to the strong jobs market. We will know for sure tomorrow afternoon.
There is lots of speculation about what this will do for property prices. Even though we have higher levels of buyers circling at the moment, there is still an element of caution with some of these buyers and the market appears to be very price sensitive. An interest rate cut will likely start to motivate these buyers but I think it will take a second interest rate cut to really start driving the market. Whilst this is possible, the RBA will likely take a ‘watch and see’ approach before decreasing in the very near future.
The Melbourne and Geelong property markets are still catching the attention of interstate investors (local investors still quiet) with many viewing the market as ‘undervalued’. Local home buyers are very active, whether that be first home buyers, upsizers and downsizers. 2025 is gearing up to be a busier year than it was last year.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi ,
The team at Elite Buyer Agents are back for 2025 and excited about what this year will bring in the Melbourne and Geelong Property Markets. Auctions have started and already bringing higher clearance rates than last year. Auction numbers are still low but will increase weekly and a ‘Super Saturday’ is predicted for the 22nd of February.
Domain Melbourne Auction Clearance rate as at Saturday evening was at 68% on 466 auctions. 315 sold at auction, 108 passed in and 43 were withdrawn. The clearance rate for the same week last year was 64%.
What a difference 12 months can make in property! 2024 was a tough year in Melbourne for real estate. There was a lot of negative press about the Melbourne Property Market, confidence was low, investors were selling fast pushing stock levels higher and buyers were very cautious. Fast forward 12 months, investors are circling, stock levels are low, and it looks like we have hit the peak of the interest rate rises with strong predictions of a rate cut next week. Not only has Melbourne come alive over the holidays, but there is now a lot of positivity about the Melbourne Property Market for 2025. A property in Toorak just recently sold for approx. $150m which now holds the record for the country as Australia’s most expensive home.
Melbourne historically has been Australia’s strongest performing property markets until recent years where it has lagged behind. This is due to the extended lockdowns during the pandemic, increased land taxes, new legislation around rental properties, rising interest rates and a sluggish economy.
Population growth will continue to be a main driver in buyer demand, and the State Government have recently predicted that Melbourne’s population will rise to 8.5 million people by 2051, a huge increase from its current 5.3 million people making it the fastest growing city in Australia.
So what does this mean for property prices in the short and long term? Over the long term, we will still have supply issues if the population increases at the levels the State Government is predicting, which should keep property prices rising. However for 2025, I still believe it will be a slow and steady pace for the first half of this year. Buyer confidence has already increased and we saw evidence of lots of buyers at open for inspections on Saturday. Whilst I feel buyers will still see some good opportunities in the short term, these opportunities will become fewer and far between over time. I believe the Melbourne Property Market has already entered the recovery phase and both KPMG and CoreLogic are predicting solid property price growth this year which all the signs are there that this could happen.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi,
A big auction weekend resulted in a solid clearance rate of 78%. 747 auctions were reported to the REIV with 404 properties selling under the hammer, 180 sold before auction, 1 after auction and 162 passed in. In addition, there were 150 private sales. In comparison, the final auction clearance rate last year was 73% on 986 auctions. The final result last week was 1,056 auctions reported resulting in a final clearance rate of 79%.
A clearance rate in the high 70%’s demonstrates the market is balanced, transactions are happening, however our experience on the ground showed a mixed bag of results. Over the weekend, we were successful in purchasing five properties at auction and still in negotiations for two others. Reserve prices generally were conservative and properties were selling ‘under the hammer’ at lower prices than we were expecting. Great news :). Also many auctions passed in and selling via negotiations immediately after with vendors meeting the market in order to have their property sold. We believe the buying conditions will be similar this weekend coming.
2024 has certainly been an difficult year in the Melbourne Property Market. Lots of uncertainty with increasing interest rates which have now thankfully stabilised. Investors left the property market in droves due to increases in land tax, rising interest rates and changes in compliance and minimum standards for rental properties. Many buyers have been sitting on their hands watching the market but not wanting to act.
Now that interest rates have stabilised, confidence appears to be building (albeit slowly) and interstate investors are circling, the outlook for 2025 is much more positive. I feel it will be a slow and steady start to the New Year. The number of properties launching in February are on the lower side (according to many Selling Agents we have spoken to). This should keep the market balanced for the first few months of the year however conditions should still be favourable to buyers to an extent.
As interest rates come down mid next year (hopefully), buyer confidence will likely go up. Melbourne has not seen any property price growth for quite some time, and declining interest rates could result in slow increases in property prices.
But for now, we have one more weekend of auctions and a week or so left of off market activity then our office will be closed until mid January. We hope you all have a wonderful break, Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year!
From the team at Elite Buyer Agents
Hi,
The clearance rate is sitting in the high 70%’s which is a good result but not unexpected. As Christmas approaches, vendors are keen to have their property sold as the ‘psychological’ deadline approaches. This means that many vendors are prepared to meet the market in order for their property sold before Christmas, even if it is less than they were hoping for.
Over the weekend, 856 auctions were reported to the REIV resulting in 466 selling at auction, 198 selling before auction, 1 selling after and 191 passing. Volume is slightly down on last year where there were 995 auctions reported for the same weekend also resulting in a clearance rate of 78%.
There is a lot of talk about Melbourne property of late and a general feeling that property is undervalued. Property prices in most capital cities across the country have had huge gains over the past 12 months with Melbourne’s property price performance being one of the weakest.
Currently, Sydney’s median house price is 70% higher than Melbourne, this is the largest price gap in 20 years. However, there predictions by many that the gap between Sydney and Melbourne property prices may decline as projections are still in place that Melbourne’s population will match Sydney’s by 2036.
We can already sense confidence in the market is increasing (albeit slowly) and there is strong buyer enquiry from interstate investors who are wanting to get into the Melbourne property market.
Whilst we know a recovery will likely be slow, and unlikely to happen until interest rates start coming down. I do believe this gives us a small window where the conditions for buyers will be favourable and a good time to enter in the market. Buyers sitting on their hands waiting for interest rates to come down put themselves at risk of not taking advantage of the current buying conditions which we are expecting to turn mid next year.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi,
A quieter auction weekend this weekend with 651 auctions reported to the REIV resulting in a clearance rate of 76%. 367 properties sold at auction, 126 before auction and 158 properties passed in. In comparison, the same weekend last year had 1,014 auctions resulting in a clearance rate of 70%.
The Spring selling season was a little lacklustre this year, we did not see the amount of stock come onto the market that we were hoping for. It appears that some sellers are still sitting on their hands (and waiting to put their property on the market) in the hope that there was going to be an interest rate cut in February, which is now looking more and more unlikely. The lack of stock has kept the property market balanced with no increases or decreases in property prices from what we can see over the past couple of months.
What has changed however, is the increase in enquiry from interstate and overseas (Aussies living abroad) buyers wanting to purchase in Melbourne and Geelong. And it hasn’t been just a small jump in enquiry, it has been significant. This could signal positive news for the Melbourne property market which has been underperforming for quite some time now.
The interest rate cut being delayed may have stalled any immediate recovery in the property market however there does seem to be an increase in confidence but until we see interest rates coming down, we should continue to have a window of reasonable buying opportunities in the months to come. Once interest rates start coming down, I strongly believe the property market will enter into a recovery phase and therefore we will likely see prices increase. It certainly feels like we have hit the bottom of the property market and the peak of interest rates.
We attended and were successful at a very competitive auction at the weekend, 4/10-12 Eley Road, Burwood which is a three bedroom, renovated, single level home. The property had strong interest from both owner occupiers and investors and was quoted at $880,000 to $960,000 prior to auction and attracted six bidders in total. The property was announced on the market for $970,000 and sold for $1,052,000.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi,
The REIV auction clearance rate remained steady at 78% with 358 properties selling at auction, 157 before auction and 149 auctions passing in. There were an additional 313 private sales. In comparison, there were 936 auctions reported to the REIV last year resulting in a clearance rate of 72% The final REIV clearance rate for last week was 812 auctions resulting in a clearance rate of 75%.
CoreLogic last week released its September quarter Home Value Index showing that Melbourne property prices declined by 1.1%. While Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth continued in the upwards direction, the rate of growth is slowing. Hobart, Darwin and Canberra also experienced in a decline in property prices. Regional Victoria overall dropped 1.4% which was the largest decline in property prices in the country. The tree change/sea change Victoria experienced over the Covid years has lost its momentum with some choosing to sell and move back to the city or interstate.
Whilst there is a continuation for some Victorian investors to exit the property market. The downward direction of property prices is mostly due to the increase in stock on the market, which is a usual trend for Spring. Properties are taking longer to sell with average days on market increasing from 27 days to 41 days. Spring is looking to be a great time for buyers to enter the Melbourne and Regional Victoria property market.
Corelogic also reported an increase in consumer confidence with inflation easing and the next interest rate move looking to be an interest rate cut. Over the next six weeks leading into Christmas, there should be a further increase in properties coming onto the market which should keep the buying conditions favourable to buyers. But my feeling is that this could be shortlived and there is a question mark as to whether stock levels will be as healthy in the New Year as they are now.
That all being said, it is still to be noted that good quality properties in Melbourne have still been selling well under competition. The auctions we attended on the weekend all had active bidding from multiple bidders and sold under the hammer.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
Hi,
The REIV reported a lower volume of auctions this Saturday in comparison to the same time last year. 638 auctions were reported to the REIV with 348 selling at auction, 124 selling before auction and 166 passing in. There were an additional 139 private sales. The same weekend last year the REIV reported 841 auctions and a clearance rate of 78%.
Investors are continuing to leave the Victorian property market with new data being released by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing showed that rate of investors selling their investment properties is rising. They looked at the amount of rental bonds (an amount held at the Residential Tenancy Bond Authority) declined from 676,400 in June last year to 654,700 to June this year, which indicates there are 21,700 less rentals.
The survey conducted also suggested that 22% of investors had sold at least one investment property in the past year which is the second highest level in the country after Brisbane.
Corelogic has released data suggesting that rental growth in Melbourne has now slowed to its lowest growth rate in three years. The three months to August 24 showed an increase of 0.8% but the change in rentals for the 12 months to August 24 was 7.0%. This is partly due to the slow down in net overseas migration.
Interestingly though while some investors are getting out of the market, some investors are seeing Melbourne/Victoria as an opportunity to get into the property market with investor lending increasing by 10.7% and the value of its lending has increased by 30.2%.
Have a great week!
Kim Easterbrook – Managing Director
