Property: Keen homebuyers defy spring lull

Pent-up demand in Melbourne’s property market has helped to defy the traditional lull in auctions numbers caused by the Spring Racing Carnival.

Sarah Goodwin, 29, with 11-month-old son Lenny and dad Jeff Goodwin, 60, outside the house in Cheltenham, Victoria, they sold on Saturday. Picture: David Geraghty

Pent-up demand in Melbourne’s property market has helped to defy the traditional lull in auction numbers caused by the Spring Racing Carnival as buyers make up for time lost to the city’s extended coronavirus lockdown.

As Melbourne restrictions eased at the end of last month, the first on-site auctions in three months took place — with the number last weekend soaring compared to the week before and much higher than last year.

Data from property market analysts at CoreLogic released on Sunday shows there were 604 auctions in Melbourne this week, up from 490 a week earlier and 255 this time last year.

The preliminary clearance rate in Melbourne was 75.8 per cent, the highest since lockdown lifted.

In Sydney, there were 864 auctions compared to 843 last year, with a clearance rate of 79.6 per cent.

CoreLogic researchers wrote: “The week leading up to Melbourne Cup traditionally sees auction volumes dip across the city however this year doesn’t appear to be impacted to the extent that we would usually see which is not overly surprising given restrictions across the city have only started to ease.”

Melbourne realtor Kevin Chokshi of Ray White Cheltenham, in the city’s southeastern bay area, said suburban agents were increasingly recommending vendors sell under the hammer, and that the number of registered bidders in his area had doubled from 1.88 per auction prior to the second wave to 3.5 bidders now.

“At the start of the year, everyone was waiting for the right time. Now, they are realising 2020 is almost over,” Mr Chokshi said

“Two months of being stuck at home has given people the time to reflect. We are trying to fit the entire spring season into a few months. People really aren't worried about beating Christmas to buy this year.”

Sarah Goodwin, 29, and her dad Jeff Goodwin, 60, sold the family home at Cheltenham above reserve for $1.328m on Saturday. They initially listed the home of family matriarch, the late Granny Margaret, in July but the campaign stalled at the start of the second lockdown.

“We had the luxury of time to decide when to go again. We were going to go on the week before the Grand Final but we were hesitant,” Ms Goodwin said.

“I had been watching Daniel Andrews and thought he would lift lockdowns and we didn’t want to go on that first weekend when people would be wanting to be seeing family and friends.”

Listings in Melbourne slumped after August 2, when the Victorian Premier introduced tough COVID restrictions, but have rebounded sharply after September 28, when private real estate inspections were allowed.

The pandemic has pushed home prices lower, with Melbourne property values down 3.3 per cent in the three months to the end of September. They fell 1.6 per cent in Sydney and remained flat in Brisbane.