August 1, 2017 | Melbourne’s Record Breaking Start to 2017

Melbourne’s auction market had its best ever start to a year, with a record number of homes that went to auction in the first six months of 2017.

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) figures shows more than 17,630 homes were auctioned in Melbourne since January 1, hammering the previous half-year benchmark of 16,654 set in 2014. 13,980 of those homes were sold under the hammer, 7% more than the previous record of 13,092 which was set in 2015.

This equates to a 79% clearance rate – which is on par with 2015 and 2010, both years that were notable for strong price growth.

These figures confirm that Melbourne is the auction capital of the world.

First-home buyer haven Reservoir, in Melbourne’s outer north was the top performing suburb with 212 sales from 254 auctions. That is a clearance rate of 83.5%. Craigieburn was not far behind with 180 sales from 216 auctions.

Glen Waverley, Mt Waverley, Epping, Preston, Bentleigh East and Hoppers Crossing were also among Melbourne’s biggest auction markets.

A luxury family home at 9 Knutsford St, Balwyn achieved Melbourne’s highest reported auction sale price in the first 6 months of 2017. It fetched $8,360,000 setting a suburb record in the process.

Solid price growth has been recorded across the city this year, driven by strong buyer demand and unprecedented population increases.

Victoria’s buoyant property market continues to perform strongly, however the clearance rate is likely to soften slightly as winter progresses.