Auction volume down

THE top-three auction towns in regional Victoria so far this year are all in the Geelong area with Belmont leading the pack, chalking up 64 auctions in 2019 which is exactly the same number recorded at this time last year.

Second on the list is Highton, which has hosted 37 auctions, compared with 58 at this point in 2018 and third is Geelong West with 35 auctions compared with 45 at this time last year.

While auctions are down 36 per cent overall in Regional Victoria on last year’s figures, most likely due to low market confidence as well as buyers and sellers awaiting the result of the Federal Election, there are some country towns that have seen more auctions in 2019 than 2018.

There have been 22 auctions in Lara, more than double the 10 held there at this point in 2018 while Mildura has hosted 24 auctions, compared with 21 in 2018. In East Geelong, there was one more auction so far this year, with 19, than the 2018 figure of 18.

There were a high volume of auctions  in Torquay in the first part of 2018, with 54 held and that number has dropped to 32 this year. Similarly, auction was the preferred method of sale for 43 properties in Newtown in 2018, but there have been just 24 this year. And in Echuca, there were 41 auctions in 2018 versus 23 this year to date. Shepparton has recorded one less auction with 22 in 2018 and 23 in 2019.

The top regional Victoria auction sale so far in 2019 was a three-bedroom waterfront home in Geelong which changed hands for $2.38 million in April. This was followed by another waterfront property – two homes on Lake Nagambie with their own private jetty – that sold together for $1.49 million in March. Rounding out the top three was another Geelong gem, a three-bedroom house that sold under the hammer for $1.45 million in April.

The REIV is starting to see a pickup in the auction market, which we expect to continue as the property market picks up towards the end of the year.

To find out more about the property market in your area, go to reiv.com.au/market-insights.