MELBOURNE PROPERTY BUYERS URGED TO MAKE THE MOST OF COOLING MARKET CONDITIONS
- Posted By Prince Lakshman
Househunters are advised to take advantage of Melbourne’s cool market conditions this spring.
This year’s spring selling season could be the best opportunity for buyers to break into the market in years, with suburbs becoming affordable such as Doreen, Sunbury and Roxbourgh Park.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria expects at least 12,000 homes will be put in auction throughout the state this season.
However, REIV president Richard Simpson stated an uplift in listings and buyer interest should induce the market to bounce back from a “sluggish” winter, in which clearance rates declined below 60 per cent.
Mr Simpson added that the cooler market, coupled with incentives for first-home buyers, will make this spring the best chance for buyers to get into the market in years.
CoreLogic Victoria director Geoff White said buyers should enjoy the advantage they have now as this wasn’t the case since 2012.
For buyers, the season marked “a really good time to secure a property … in what’s more of a buyers market than what we’ve seen the last four to five years”.
Nevertheless, prices aren’t going to plummet according to Mr White.
REIV tipped buyers to consider Doreen, Mernda, Roxburgh Park, Sunbury and Wyndham Vale as they offer Melbourne’s best opportunities this spring.
They’ve each recorded annual increases in auction sales, with Doreen’s figure almost tripling from 21 to 60, and offer median house prices in the sweet spot for first-home buyer stamp duty exemptions, below $650,000.
St Kilda East, Glen Huntly, Mulgrave and Wantirna are expected to yield strong results for sellers this season, having all notched clearance rates above 76 per cent this year.