Melbourne housing market: Spring sales set to go through the roof with 1000s of auctions on the way

Victoria’s property market is primed for a record start to spring that could kick off one of the biggest selling seasons in history. Hear what the experts think this will mean for local house prices.

Justin and Alex Shimmin, with their children Fenna, aged 3, and Ari,15 months have put their Oak Park investment property is up for sale - which is among the 1000s of homes expected to sell this spring. Picture: Ian Currie

Victoria’s property market is primed for a record start to spring with more than 1000 auctions in the first week of September that could kick off one of the biggest selling seasons in history.

More than 3000 homes are scheduled to go under the hammer in the next three weeks in a buyer bonanza that’s starting with 1060 properties going to auction this week in one of the busiest ends to winter to date.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria figures show that number will be blown away when 1120 auctions test the market in the week ending September 2, smashing the previous benchmark for the first weekend of spring set at 932 in 2015.

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REIV president Andrew Meehan said with another 1050 scheduled the following week it was great news for buyers and great news for sellers after the numbers of homes for sale had been suppressed for most of the past year.

“No one is expecting rates to go up much further, if at all, and I think the market is listening to that and starting to feel more confident,” Mr Meehan said.

With interest rates skyrocketing during spring last year and Melbourne in lockdown in September in 2021 and 2020, he said it was the city’s first normal spring market since 2019.

“It’s a real springboard to the selling season and I think this will absolutely be a strong one,” Mr Meehan said.

Sellers should do well with the state’s biggest real estate firm, Ray White, revealing the average number of bidders at auction is closing on levels not seen since the Reserve Bank began hiking interest rates.

Chief executive Stephen Dullens said the average 2.6 bidders at auction in August was the highest number since there were 2.8 buyers making offers for each home under the hammer in April last year.

15 Magnolia St, Oak Park is going to auction on September 2.

As the state moves into spring next week Mr Dullens said the firm expected their 243 auctions would account for one in five of the record-setting start to spring, and that they would be encouraging most sellers to ignore early offers.

Ray White figures show those who sold in July were on average 11.9 per cent better off by waiting to go under the hammer, about $108,290 for the city’s $910,000 median priced house.

“But there will be scenarios where there is only one interested party, so listen to your agents advice,” he said.

But Wakelin Property Advisory director and buyer’s advocate Jarrod McCabe said he believed sellers would struggle after the Melbourne Cup.

15 Magnolia St, Oak Park is up for sale

“In the second half I think it will move more in favour of buyers, but at the moment I think it’s more balanced,” Mr McCabe said.

Despite this, with larger numbers of family homes typically not appearing on the market until October he said they could join renovated properties in receiving sustained demand — particularly within 10km of the CBD.

He noted first-home buyers could be in a particularly good spot, with strong numbers of sales from investors quitting the market at present.

PropTrack auction data also shows the city is headed to its busiest start to spring on record.

“And there’s probably a proportion of those sellers who are people who have been hit hard by interest rates,” said PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty.

Realestate.com.au economist Anne Flaherty

While first-home buyers who made their move in the past two or three years were the “most vulnerable” in this regard, she noted it was likely investment properties and family homes would also be among the forced sales.

Ms Flaherty said with “every reason” to expect auction numbers to continue to grow, late spring could become a “real test of the depth of buyer demand” that could pause or even reverse home price growth in recent weeks.

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