Days on market falls to new low: RP Data's Melbourne auction preview

Melbourne auction volumes remain high as there are 1,137 auctions scheduled this week in Melbourne, compared to 823 at the same time last year. This will be the ninth week with more than 1,000 auctions in Melbourne.

The highest number of auctions this week is in Glen Iris with 24 followed by Northcote and South Yarra, both with 19.

The Melbourne auction market continues to record reasonable clearance rates in light of the very strong volumes.

Volumes in the auction market are consistent with those across the residential market which is seeing more new homes being listed and more sold. In Melbourne there are 31,604 homes listed for sale, 8.7% lower than a year ago. At the same time new listings have been consistently higher than a year ago, over the month ending 18 May there was 15.7% more new listings.

Key data

• Clearance rate week ending 18 May: 68.5%
• Melbourne auctions expected week ending 25 May: 1,137
• Melbourne private sales time on market week ending 18 May: 40 days (houses)
• Melbourne vendor discounting market week ending 18 May: -5.5% (houses)
• Listings being prepared for market are 1.3% lower over the month ending 18 May (seasonally adjusted)

Source RP Data

The average number of days a house spends on the market has fallen to a new low according to the latest RP Data monthly update.

In March a house for sale by private sale in Melbourne spent 35 days on the market. As most auction selling campaigns are around 28 days, it is interesting to note that private sales are delivering, in broad terms, similarly quick sales.

This is also significant because the majority, around 69% in 2013, of Melbournians sell by private sale.

Comparing March this year with the past few years shows the change clearly, last year the time on market was 45 days, the year before that it was 57 days and in 2010, when the market last peaked, it was 38 days.

There is clearly a reflection between the strength of the market and the time it takes to sell a house.

Units are taking slightly longer; around 37 days – but this is not a significant difference and they show a similar trend over time.

On a suburban level the shortest time on market is generally found in the outer east of the city in The Basin, Croydon South and Knoxfield. Time on market data on a suburban level is calculated over a longer time period so fluctuates to a lessor degree but still clearly shows the areas where sales are more rapid.

Source: RP Data