A red-hot-run for property listings

The shift from the city to the regions has led to regional Victoria experiencing the shortest days on market since 2010.

Regional areas have been on a red-hot-run for six consecutive months following the protracted 2020 lockdowns and are now recording an average of under 40 days on the market, with a median of 35 days in May.

Meanwhile, properties in outer Melbourne sold in an average of 22 days, or 10 days below the median for metropolitan Melbourne.

DOM or days on market is a count of the number of days a property will typically be listed for before it is sold and gives an insight into the level of buyer interest and activity.

Private property listings and sales are the preferred approach for real estate in regional Victoria, with 84 per cent of activity falling under this category.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria CEO Gil King said that their May 2021 statistics show that buyer activity is strong with days on market for regional Victoria and outer Melbourne listings recorded as some the shortest in over a decade.

“The data gives us a good indicator that more and more Victorians are making the move to outer Melbourne and the regional areas beyond,” he said.

“Five towns recorded substantial decreases in days on market, slashing at least 60 days from May 2020 figures.”

The leader of the pack is the coastal tourist town of Loch Sport, in central Gippsland, cut back by more than 100 days and another 21 towns have reduced days on market by at least 30 days.

The Bendigo region has seen days on market plumet from 49 at the start of the pandemic to 28.

Ray White Bendigo agent Tom Sayers said it seems that the news that broke recently about the median house prices in metropolitan Melbourne touching the $1,000,000 mark was the final piece of the puzzle buyers needed to really start a frenzy in regional Victoria.

“Don’t get me wrong we have been seeing exceptional growth in all of our marketplaces across the region for the past six months, but as more and more everyday Victorians become priced out of the metropolitan areas, they turn their head to the regional areas of Victoria in the hopes of still being able to live the great Australian dream,” Mr Sayers said.

“One major market shift we have noticed is that more auctions are now being listed than ever before, and I think regional buyers are going to need to learn to adapt to auction culture within the real estate industry, something that has typically been unheard of within regional markets for some time.

“The simple reason auctions have now taken off is that we as agents are quickly realising that even if we don’t truly know what people are prepared to pay in this current market, the auction process is a true indication of market value.

“I think days on market reflect this statement quite well, yes the prices we are achieving are outstanding, but if we can achieve them within a few days of going on the market was it really the best price the market could provide?

“Slowing the process down with a structured 30-day auction campaign is the best way to help educate buyers and sellers about the current price of property.”

The March quarterly median price data revealed historic increases in regional Victoria, where houses surpassed $500,000 for the first time with a 4.1 per cent increase from the December quarter, and 12.3 per cent annual growth.

The benefits of the strong real estate market have been shared around the state, not just in the traditional inner suburbs, with many city-dwellers taking up residence in regional Victoria, thanks to the adoption of flexible working arrangements and the reassessment of lifestyle priorities.