Melbourne’s auction market continue to punch on strongly on the weekend despite plenty of listings on offer.
Amid predictions of a property slow down and expectations of a softening in the market, there were no shortage of properties on the weekend that defied expectations and shot past their reserve price.
On Saturday Melbourne recorded an auction clearance rate of 79.7 per cent from the 854 auctions held. That’s slightly up from the previous weekend’s result of 78.3 per cent.
According to Domain, the bidding was most competitive for budget properties and for blocks over $2 million planned for development.
Top-end properties attracted plenty of interest also, and James Buyer Advocates’ Mal James told Domain while things for those properties weren’t as hot as earlier in the year, they were still firing.
“There is no evidence the market is going backwards,” he said.
“It may not be going up at the same trajectory…or going up by 7 per cent a quarter, but it is still going up.”
Managing director of Jas Stephens, Craig Stephens, also spoke to Domain on the current property market.
“The market seems to be plateauing a bit as the banks continue to raise rates for the investor-only-type loans,” he said.
“That’s put some softness on the market: investors are probably now paying half a per cent more in interest than they were at this time last year and that coupled with the approaching winter months and the new laws (on quoting property prices), is seeing a market that is certainly not as buoyant as it was back in February and March.”
Buyers at auctions all around Melbourne are all asking if the property market is softening, and the answer? It’s predicted to do so but it hasn’t yet.
