3rd May 2021 / Rob Fletcher: Market Update | 1 & 2 May 2021

We enjoyed beautiful Autumn sunshine over the first weekend of May, with another 'Super Saturday' in which more than 1,000 auctions were scheduled. The REIV recorded a clearance rate of 81 percent, with Fletchers results from the day closely aligned with the industry at 80 per cent.

Domain Group data shows that in addition to a soaring median house price in Melbourne, house prices have also risen across 51 suburbs, pushed forward by owner-occupiers looking for larger homes. The Mornington Peninsula has led much of the charge, with suburbs in the sought-after stretch of coastline rising by 30 per cent in just one year. Domain senior research analyst, Dr Nicola Powell, notes that with the change in working habits, the possibility for people to work and live more remotely has opened up the possibility of the Mornington Peninsula as more than just a destination for holiday homes.

Supply is similarly tight in the inner-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, with house prices in the area jumping by 8.5 per cent across the year to March to a $1,615,000 median. Fletchers Director, Tim Heavyside, commented that "there's an absorption rate at the moment...there are definitely more buyers than there are sellers, so any homes for sale are just getting snapped up".

In Balwyn North over the weekend, five bidders competed for the property at 26 Reading Avenue, with a family snapping up the three-bedroom home, mostly in original condition. The property sold under the hammer for $2,790,000 with the purchasers planning to live in the home before knocking it down and rebuilding. Fletchers Partner, Nick Fletcher, said his "vendor had been there for 50 years so she was in tears, and the family who bought it were in tears so it was an emotional sale".

Another highlight sale was the auction of 5 Maidstone Avenue in Burwood East, where an incredible 9 bidders competed to secure the freshly styled three bedroom home.

Success. It's a Fletchers thing.