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There are 1,043 auctions scheduled this week in Melbourne compared to 1,124 for the same time last year.
The highest volume of auctions is in St Kilda with 23 expected, followed by Reservoir with 22 and Kew with 19.
In the auction market the increased volume has shifted the market in favour of buyers with a lower clearance rate resulting from the almost 2,000 auctions held over the past fortnight.
In the private sale market however sellers are seeing a peak in demand with lower days on market and reduced discounting prevalent.
On a city wide basis, the time on market results for houses sold at private sale tightened from 40 days to 37 days over the last week whilst vendor discounting fell from -5.1% to -4.9%.
Key data
•       Clearance rate week ending 12 October: 70%
•       Melbourne auctions expected week ending 19 October: 1,043
•       Melbourne private sales time on market week ending 12 October: 37 days (houses)
•       Melbourne vendor discounting market week ending 12 October: -4.9% (houses)
•       Listings being prepared for market are 4.3 per cent higher in month ending 12 October (seasonally adjusted)
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Melbourne market shifting in favour of buyers: RP Data's weekend auction preview

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There are 72 auctions scheduled this week in Melbourne compared to 92 for the same time last year.
Auction numbers are low this week due to the AFL Grand Final.
Conditions in the private sale market are becoming more competitive with homes taking fewer days to sell and a lower vendor discount.
Recent data shows that all of the top 10 suburbs when ranked by time on market are in the eastern suburbs. Rowville had the lowest number of days on market followed by Blackburn North, Croydon, Wantirna South and Vermont South.
On a city wide basis the time on market results for houses sold at private sale fell from 44 days to 41 days over the last week whilst vendor discounting fell from -5.4 per cent to -5.2 per cent.
Key data
<ul>
<li>Clearance rate week ending 28 September:72.1%</li>
<li>Melbourne auctions expected week ending 28 September: 72</li>
<li>Melbourne private sales time on market week ending 21 September: 41 days (houses)</li>
<li>Melbourne vendor discounting market week ending 21 September: -5.2% (houses)</li>
<li>Listings being prepared for market are 2% higher in month ending 21 September (seasonally adjusted)</li>
</ul>
 
 
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Sellers steer clear of Grand Final day: RP Data's weekend auction preview

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A preliminary weighted average clearance rate of 68.5% was recorded this week across capital cities compared to 67.8% last week and 70.4% this time last year.
This result is consistent with the year's trend. The year to date clearance rate for capital cities was 68.3% before this week.
In Sydney a preliminary clearance rate of 75.5%  was recorded compared to 71.9% last week and 79.5% last year. Despite the clearance rate not being higher than a year ago the auction market has improved with more homes being sold.
In Melbourne there was a preliminary clearance rate of 68% recorded compared to 70% last week and 68.6% this time last year. Concerns the auction market was beginning to weaken have not been added to this week.
Next week will prove an interesting test, with a record of around 1800 auctions scheduled.
In Brisbane a preliminary clearance rate of 50.5% was recorded compared to 48.8% last week.
Adelaide recorded a clearance rate of 50%  compared to 55.8% last week.
In Canberra a clearance rate of 50% was recorded.
In Perth a clearance rate of 60% was recorded.
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Capital cities land on trend: RP Data's national auction wrap

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There are 1,324 auctions scheduled this week in Melbourne compared to 1,616 for the same time last year.
The highest volume of auctions will be in Reservoir, which has 33 expected.
Last week was the second largest weekend for auctions in the city's history with 1,733 auctions compared to 1,837 in late October. The clearance rate dropped from 71% to 66%; this comparison between the two almost identical weeks provides a very clear summary of the change in the market over two months.
There are only two weekends for auctions now until Christmas.
On a citywide basis, the time on market results for houses sold at private sale contracted from 32 to 31 days over the last week and vendor discounting eased slightly to -5%.
Key data:
<ul>
<li>Clearance rate week ending 7 December: 66%</li>
<li>Melbourne auctions expected week ending 14 December: 1,324</li>
<li>Melbourne private sales time on market week ending 7 December: 31 days (houses)</li>
<li>Melbourne vendor discounting market week ending 7 December: -5% (houses)</li>
<li>Listings being prepared for market are 0.4% higher in month ending 7 December (seasonally adjusted)</li>
</ul>
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Reservoir homes go under the hammer: Melbourne's weekend auction preview

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There are 992 auctions scheduled this week in Melbourne compared to 1008 for the same time last year (the fourteenth week with over 1,000 auction this year).
The highest volume of auctions will be in Mount Waverly with 19 expected.
After a few weeks where sellers were holding the upper hand, last week showed that they still need to ensure that their sale price expectations are not too high.
While the Melbourne market is healthy, it is recording more moderate growth than in the two previous upswings in 2007 and 2010.
September quarter property values showed that the strongest growth in house values on a suburb basis were in the inner east.
Armadale saw a 25.4% rise over the last year and similar growth was recorded in nearby Malvern East, Glen Iris and Camberwell. It is often the case that in an improving market the most expensive segment records the strongest increase in values.
It was also interesting to note that Fairfield joined its neighbor, Alphington, as a suburb with a median house value of in excess of a million dollars. Buyers who can't afford Mont Albert or Balwyn are gravitating north of the Yarra.
On a city wide basis, the time on market results for houses sold at private sale rose from 39 days to 40 days over the last week while vendor discounting fell from -5.3% to -5.1%.
Key data
<ul>
<li>Clearance rate week ending 5 October: 69.1%</li>
<li>Melbourne auctions expected week ending 12 October: 992</li>
<li>Melbourne private sales time on market week ending 5 October: 40 days (houses)</li>
<li>Melbourne vendor discounting market week ending 5 October: -5.1% (houses)</li>
<li>Listings being prepared for market are 3.9% higher in month ending 5 October (seasonally adjusted)</li>
</ul>
 
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Melbourne buyers head north of the Yarra: RP Data's weekend auction preview

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From a first home buyer perspective, there is something very wrong with the housing market in Victoria.
In February, the most recent data available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the total number of dwellings financed for first home buyers had sunk to a 23 year low.
In February there were 1,402 dwellings financed for first home buyers which  represented a mere 11.76% of the entire number financed. This was lower than in January when first home buyers represented 12.7% of the market and the lowest in raw terms since July 1991 when the population of Victoria was 31% less than it is today.
The reasons behind  this result are debatable. Some will say that the causes are high property prices, but this alone is not borne out by the data. When home values last peaked, in October of 2010, the proportion of first home buyers was 18.2%. In real terms, prices are not significantly different at this point which suggests that the problem is not entirely the price.
Others point to the fact that rents are not rising and suggest that intending first home buyers are preferring to rent.
Another perspective is that the change to financial assistance for first home buyers has caused many to not enter the market. At the same time as the large step down in the proportion of first home buyers occurred in the middle of last year, the $7,000 First Home Buyer Grant for established homes came to an end.  This alone cannot be the only issue as at the same time stamp duty was being progressively lowered for first home buyers.
The reasoning for this change in the market is probably a combination of all  issues mentioned and if the market  remains this way, it will represent a significant structural change in the local housing market.
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First home buyers in Victoria lowest in 23 years

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Over $10 million was spent on real estate every day in Boroondara during 2013.
It takes a few months after the end of the calendar year for a vast majority of property transactions to settle and be finalised.
With final numbers for 2013 now available, a comparison with previous years can now be undertaken.
In 2013 there were 81,590 residential sales in Melbourne and 107,845 in Victoria. Looking at the Melbourne market over the medium term this is a comparatively low level of sales. Since the year 2000, nine years have seen a higher level of sales with a peak in 2007 with 105,194 sales.
Thankfully, a combination of more confident consumers and record low interest rates has been the catalyst for the level of sales in 2013 rising above the two preceding years of 77,867, and 73,459 respectively.
It is important to note that the volume of transactions has a direct impact on the health of the Victorian government budget as a significant portion of its income is derived from stamp duty as well as the industries that supply and support the housing sector, real estate, building and ancillary services.
On a more local basis, the highest number of sales took place in the city’s growth areas with the highest levels of the spending taking place in the inner east.
<blockquote>
The highest number of sales took place in Melbourne's growth areas with the highest levels of the spending taking place in the inner east.
</blockquote>
Across the state’s municipalities, the highest number of total transactions took place in Casey where 4,130 sales were recorded equating to around 11 sales every day. Similar numbers were recorded in the Mornington Peninsula with inner city locations, Melbourne and Boroondara following.
The largest volume of sales in financial terms was recorded in Boroondara where $3.97 billion was spent on residential real estate, or just over $10 million every day.
At the other end of the scale, Nillumbik recorded the lowest number of sales, at 946 and the lowest in financial terms at $507 million.
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$10 million spent on property every single day in Boroondara

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It may be popular to say that first-home buyer incentives don’t work or are inflationary but it’s simply not supported by the data in Victoria.

Not only is this not supported by the data but it is also a position which, from a policy perspective, is inequitable for one simple reason: stamp duty.
The REIV believes that <a target="_blank" href="http:/www.propertyobserver.com.au/first-home-buyers/first-home-buyer-grant-schemes-simply-don-t-work-terry-ryder">first-home buyers</a> deserve a better deal from governments because they have to compete with second- and third-home buyers who enter the market with equity built in earlier transactions. This would be less of an issue if not for stamp duty.
There is no rational reason why a first-home buyer should be subject to a wealth tax such as stamp duty to the same level as someone who has actually generated personal wealth from property.
How is a first-home buyer supposed to compete with other buyers? They have to save for a considerable amount of time to build the deposit, only to see it evaporate when they receive their stamp duty bill.
This is a far more significant issue than the standard debate about affordability for first-home buyers suggests. It is concerning that many who argue for more affordable property don’t also argue for lower wealth taxes on first-home buyers.
The First Home Buyers Grant, now a paltry $7,000 (the equivalent of one 25 point cut in interest rates), pales into insignificance against most stamp duty bills in Australia. Despite that fact, many commentators and organizations take pride in arguing against this form of assistance.
While governments continue to levy large stamp duty bills this is no more than an argument for wealth taxes on those who don’t have any. This position is supported by the findings in the report on Housing Supply and Affordability Reform by the Supply and Affordability Reform (HSAR) Working Party of COAG.
In its report, it found that “the FHOG does provide some help to potential first homebuyers in competing against existing homeowners, who have typically benefitted from capital gains from previous property price growth”.
In the Victorian context, there is plenty of evidence of incentives for first-home buyers being both equitable and delivering on their aims.
The first example is the First Home Owners Bonus, or builder’s bonus as it became known. When the Global Financial Crisis hit Victoria, it had a growing population that was not matched with an increase in supply. The National Housing Supply Council pointed to a supply shortfall which was translating into rapidly increasing prices.
In response, governments responded with significant grants – up to $36,500 for a new home in regional Victoria – to both increase activity in the housing market and, more pointedly, get the builders building more homes.
This policy was also part of the stimulus package aimed at generating employment for builders and related trades.
It worked. First-home buyers flocked to the market and the builders built more homes. The increased incentives came into effect on October 14, 2008 and within 12 months the number of first-home buyers in Victoria increased from 2,420 a month to 4,448. Over the last decade first home buyers have comprised 20% of all buyers; this share increased by 50% with targeted government incentives.  Those incentives achieved their aim by increasing the construction of new dwellings and addressing the supply shortfall.
These incentives also seemed to transcend politics as they were commenced under a Labor government, continued by a Coalition one and then, when they were clearly no longer needed, ended.
All home buyers benefited because housing became more affordable as there was less of an imbalance between supply and demand.
So much for suggestions that the incentives don’t work.
The second example is of the cuts to stamp duty in Victoria.
The REIV campaigned for cuts to stamp duty for all first-home buyers because we believe that it is, firstly, unfair to tax first home buyers’ precious deposits, and secondly, inefficient for governments to take with one hand and give with the other. This should not be taken as a lack of support for the grant; first-home buyers need all the help they can get and the moves by NSW, Queensland and South Australia will only make it harder for first home buyers.
As a result of our advocacy and support from the Victorian Government, by the 15th of September next year most first-home buyers will benefit from a 50% cut to stamp duty. Depending on the home you are buying, that is effectively a doubling of the $7,000 grant. This assistance has not had an immediate noticeable impact on the market nor did the REIV ever expect it to; after all it has been progressively introduced, rising from 20% in 2012 to 50% in 2014.
It may not have had the immediate impact of the builders’ bonuses but that was never the point. It was simply to reduce the inequities faced by first home buyers trying to get a start in the market. If this sort of policy is not more widely adopted, then governments are saying that they are happy for first-home buyers to spend years saving to pay a tax.
How does that help anyone?
Robert Larocca is Real Estate Institute of Victoria (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reiv.com.au/">REIV</a>) policy and public affairs manager
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Why should first home buyers spend years saving to pay stamp duty? Robert Larocca

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With the vast majority of homes sold in the last financial year now settled, it is possible to calculate some of the key numbers in the Ballarat market.
Over the year a total of $639 million was spent on houses in the City of Ballarat and $68 million on units across 1,942 house sales and 281 unit sales. There were 12 million dollar house sales – the median value of a house was $301,001. The median house value rose by 7.1% compared to 7.9% in Melbourne
Largest growth in median house values by suburb:
<ul>
<li>Golden Point</li>
<li>Soldiers Hill</li>
<li>Black Hill</li>
<li>Redan</li>
<li>Mount Pleasant</li>
</ul>
Most house sales by suburb
<ul>
<li>Wendouree</li>
<li>Sebastopol</li>
<li>Alfredton</li>
<li>Ballarat East</li>
<li>Delacombe</li>
</ul>
Most expensive suburbs by median house values
<ul>
<li> Lake Wendouree</li>
<li>Lake Gardens</li>
<li>Invermay Park</li>
<li>Mount Helen</li>
<li>Buninyong</li>
</ul>
Most affordable suburbs by median house values
<ul>
<li>Sebastopol</li>
<li>Wendouree</li>
<li>Redan Mount Pleasant</li>
<li>Ballarat East</li>
</ul>
Highest spend on houses
<ul>
<li>Alfredton ($64 million)</li>
<li>Wendouree ($48 million)</li>
<li>Sebastopol ($42 million)</li>
<li>Ballarat Central ($41 million)</li>
<li>Lake Wendouree ($40 million)</li>
</ul>
Suburbs with million dollar house sales
<ul>
<li>Lake Wendouree</li>
<li>Ballarat Central</li>
<li>Newington</li>
</ul>
Suburbs with the highest proportion of houses advertised for sale:
<ul>
<li>Ballarat Central</li>
<li>Miners Rest</li>
<li>Alfredton</li>
<li>Mount Clear</li>
<li>Newington</li>
</ul>
 
 
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Top 5 for Ballarat residential real estate sales during 2013-2014 financial year

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A preliminary weighted average clearance rate of 68.7% was recorded this week across capital cities compared to 66.9% last week and 72.5% this time last year.
Volumes are rising and are projected to reach a high in the last week of October in what will be a test for the market.
<img src="/images/2014/10/13/Picture%2036.png" alt="">
Source: RP Data
<img src="/images/2014/10/13/Picture%2037.png" alt="">
Source: RP Data 
In Sydney a preliminary clearance rate of 75.8% was recorded compared to 76.4% last week. It is interesting to note that there have been 43% more auctions this year than was the case last year, remarkably the clearance rate has not been affected.
In Melbourne there was a preliminary clearance rate of 67.2% recorded compared to 69.1% last week and 74% this time last year. This was the 15th week with in excess of 1,000 auctions.
In Brisbane a preliminary clearance rate of 54.2% was recorded compared to 47.4% last week.
Adelaide recorded a clearance rate of 58.7% compared to 53.7% last week.
In Canberra a clearance rate of 56.4% was recorded.
In Perth a clearance rate of 33.3% was recorded.
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Robert Larocca

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