The upside to selling your home in Melbourne on election day

While political parties will be hoping to win hearts and votes at the federal election today, home sellers are hoping to capture the attention of more buyers on a day when few auctions are held.

Some vendors have chosen to sell on a day when there are a limited number of auctions and less competition from other sellers for the potential buyers in the marketplace.

Tim Mitchell and Caroline Haddad in 2016, when they had just bought their apartment in Prahran.Credit: Jesse Marlow

Tim Mitchell and wife Caroline Haddad are selling their three-bedroom Prahran apartment they bought in 2016, hoping more buyers will come to their election-day auction, after nervously choosing to go ahead.

Mitchell, who works as a content producer, and Haddad, who’s with an architecture firm and the Sacred Heart Mission, listed a week before the election was called. They decided to go ahead and sell on election day after seeking advice from friends in the real estate industry.

“We were told it’s not a bad day to sell for a couple of reasons – one is because people are at home in Melbourne because they have to vote, and the other is that there’s a buzz in the air because of the election.”

The couple is planning to rent before they buy again and are also waiting to vote until after their auction.

Ray White Brunswick selling agent and auctioneer Matthew Schroeder, who is selling the Prahran apartment, said part of the couple’s strategy was to sell while there were fewer auctions across the election weekend.

“We booked the auction months ago before the election was announced, but we felt there was no reason to change it,” Schroeder said. “There was the thought process that less is more, there will be less properties competing against us.”

Across Melbourne, 585 auctions are scheduled today – almost 50 per cent lower than the number held last weekend.

Since the 2001 federal election, most voting weekends have seen a slump in auction numbers of close to 40 per cent, Domain data shows.

Domain chief of research and economics, Dr Nicola Powell, said while elections could change the minds of some buyers and vendors, market conditions were more likely to dictate auction numbers on any election weekend.

This year, as the market slows and prices fall after almost two years of a COVID-19 house price boom, vendors will want to go ahead to try and get close to peak prices, Powell said.

While housing policies can affect the market as some buyers and sellers want to wait and see the outcome of the election, others prefer to ink a deal first.

“If there’s a policy affecting housing like negative gearing changes [in 2016 and 2019], that policy can spook the market and can see people try and sell their homes before the election,” she said. “I do think the strategy of choosing a weekend where there are fewer auctions ups your chances of being successful.”

Vendors and buyers can be spooked by any significant changes to housing policy, Powell said.Credit: Nick O’Malley

Nelson Alexander Fitzroy director Arch Staver is selling a few properties on Saturday, including 312 Gore Street, Fitzroy.

“The fact is that people who haven’t voted early are usually in Melbourne because they have to vote and grab a sausage, and then they can do what they want,” Staver said. “Voting takes you all of 10 minutes from the time you park your car, so if you want to buy a house, then you’re going to buy a house.”

This was different to long weekends or public holidays, when people usually flee the city to enjoy a break.

“Where there’s a long weekend and people leave Melbourne to go interstate or up the coast, people may decide to push their auction forward a week,” he said.

He said COVID-19 had also changed the mindset of Melburnians about when and how they sell homes, with many going ahead when there are holidays or events as they can reach buyers through online auctions.

“I think COVID and the number of disruptions we’ve had, it’s brought a resilience and that carry on approach to Melbourne,” Staver said. “For a long, long time we couldn’t do what we wanted, so now it has to be a really good excuse not to go ahead with a sale.”

Brad Teal Woodards head of sales and auctioneer Andrew Butler, who is selling 12 Waratah Street, Pascoe Vale on Saturday, said many people were voting earlier which freed up their Saturdays for auctions.

“I think everyone’s opinion of milestone days has very much changed over the last two years,” Butler said. “People are looking for what they want to do on election day and not what the government wants them to do.”

Butler said given the Coalition and ALP’s policies on housing were very closely aligned, vendors and buyers were not willing to wait for the outcome of the election.

“There’s the age-old adage that if a buyer really wants to buy they’ll turn up no matter what is happening,” he said.