Recovery gathers strength

There are strong signs of a property market recovery in regional Victoria, the latest REIV data suggests.

A comparison of REIV auction sales figures from the June quarter to the September quarter this year, excluding the AFL Grand Final long weekend, reveals that there were fewer auctions in regional Victoria in the September quarter, but auction clearance rates improved greatly.

In the June quarter, 469 properties were auctioned, with 245 sold – a clearance rate of 52.2 per cent, compared with a 62.9 per cent clearance rate for the whole state over that period.

In the September quarter, only 314 properties went under the hammer in regional Victoria, with 206 sold – a clearance rate of 65.6 per cent, against a statewide clearance rate of 75.6 per cent.

The volume of properties going to auction dropped 33 per cent, but the improvement of 13.4 percentage points in the clearance rate – a greater increase than for the state as a whole – demonstrates an important trend in the market.

This data indicates that economic factors including record low interest rates and relaxed APRA lending guidelines are encouraging more buyers into the market, but that supply is lower, perhaps because some vendors are reticent to enter the market following the correction earlier this year.

The REIV believes this is a good time for vendors to get their properties to market. Lower volumes, combined with the market demand we’re observing, should have the effect of increasing prices.

In regional Victoria, State and Federal government programs to decentralise the state’s population and assistance for first home buyers should add additional incentive for buyers and investors to get into the market as 2019 draws to an end.

For further information, go to reiv.com.au.