REIV reports on remarkable year for Melbourne property
December 21, 2009
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria has taken a look back at the year that was 2009, excited by the strong year after an inauspicious start.
Melbourne has led the way amongst Australia’s capitals when it comes to the property sector this year, with median prices up double digits and clearance rates around record levels.
REIV report:
“At the start of the year market activity was slow; there were comparatively few auctions held and most buying and selling was occurring in the more affordable segment of the market. The combination of the financial assistance for first home buyers and record low interest rates helped encourage many people to take the step of making their first house purchase.
In the March quarter the median house price in Melbourne hit a low of $405,500, down from $472,000 in the December quarter of 2007. The suburbs that recorded the highest growth in terms of their median price were Doncaster East, Mount Martha, Keysborough, Brighton East and Mount Evelyn.
In the June quarter house prices started to rise again as the public’s confidence in the economy increased. The median price rose to $450,000 and the suburbs that recorded the highest growth were Kew, Albert Park, Toorak, Hawthorn East and Balwyn.
In the September quarter prices rose again, this time to an all-time high of $480,000 and the highest growth suburbs were Surrey Hills, Pascoe Vale, Glen Iris, Broadmeadows and Eltham.
Over the year the auction clearance rate has averaged just over 81 per cent and the Institute has recorded a clearance rate of 80 per cent or more over 31 of the last 32 weekends.
As the year was coming to a close, the combined value of homes sold reached an all-time record of $971 million in transactions over one mid-December weekend. The impact of this on the median price of a house in Melbourne won’t be known until late January when the REIV releases its December quarter median prices.”