Melbourne Property News Monthly Wrap – October 2014

October’s Super Saturday delivers a super result!

There were in excess of 4262 auctions reported to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) in October, with more than 3079 sales recorded. Approximately 1184 properties were passed in, 564 of those on a vendor bid. The clearance rate for the month averaged 71.5%.

September’s AFL Grand Final and November’s Melbourne Cup create a peak auction period in October, and the weekend of the 25th/26th lived up to the ‘super’ tag breaking all previous records, with over 1508 auctions and 1102 sales.

Buyers continued to jump in, banking on a continuation of low interest rates for now – but with a rise anticipated in 2015. Despite the volatility across October, the Dow Jones showed some resilience towards the end of the month, allowing a bit of reassurance for top end home-buyers, looking forward. A home in Victoria St. Camberwell achieved $450,000 above reserve and a terrace in Hume St. Armadale achieved $420,000 above reserve.

Anecdotal reports from agents suggest houses priced between $1 million and $2 million appear to be showing some resistance though. There is a lot of stock in this price bracket and although homes sell, agents are unhappy with some of the prices being achieved – the large supply putting some adverse pressure on prices. Overall properties above $2 million were doing better, agents said.

And according to a prominent Stonnington agent who was quoted in The Age, Oct. 26, smaller inner-urban Eastern properties were still in great demand: “The cottages around Prahran, Toorak and Armadale are on fire.” But fortunately, in a good way.

Craig Knudsen
Principal Advisor
Vendor Marketing

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