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Melbourne’s once outer suburbs have become hot property, with buyers winning bidding wars to snap up every house auctioned over September.
Rosanna and Greensborough in Melbourne’s north-east and Lalor in the north were particularly favoured by buyers, with every house selling under the hammer or in the hours after.
Clearance rates in the budget markets to the north, west and south-east had improved since a year ago, and were now finding plenty of buyers at auction, Domain Group chief economist Andrew Wilson said.
Yarraville scored a 100 per cent clearance rate for houses in September. Photo: Luis Ascui
This five-bedroom house at 76 South Circular Road, Gladstone Park, sold for $645,000. Photo: Barry Plant
On Saturday, just 45 auctions were held because of the grand final. The Domain Group posted a clearance rate of 87 per cent from 31 reported auctions and 14 unreported results.
Rosanna cleared 14 out of 14 houses last month, including several million-dollar sales.
The suburb attracted families who found Ivanhoe and Heidelberg to be out of reach, Barry Plant’s Brett Greig said, and price-conscious buyers from Eltham and Montmorency who preferred to be closer to town.
10 Devlin Court, Rosanna Photo: Barry Plant
Five bidders fought for a four-bedroom house at 10 Devlin Court in Rosanna, which sold for $1.06 million against a $950,000 reserve, he said.
Families battling house price rises are venturing further out to suburbs such as Greensborough, where all 12 houses sold.
Significant infrastructure investment in central Greensborough such as the WaterMarc swimming pool had changed its landscape, Hocking Stuart director Daniel Sheean said, and many people were confident the government saw it as an activity centre.
“With how far Melbourne’s spread north – with Doreen – Greensborough’s become not quite an inner suburb, but it’s certainly not an outer suburb any more,” he said.
“It’s just a whole different thought process with buyers; a couple of years ago you would have buyers thinking, ‘I don’t want to spend too much because I don’t know what it’s going to be worth when I sell it,’ to now ‘I’ll pay whatever I need to to get into there’.”
Agent Darren Jones said Greensborough drew buyers priced out of suburbs closer in and people trading their newer home further north for an older home closer in.
“Further north, you’ve got a lot of new estates in Mernda, South Morang and Doreen, but the roads haven’t kept up with traffic there,” he said.
1/27 Jessop Street, Greensborough Photo: Darren Jones
Five bidders competed for a three-bedroom house at 1/27 Jessop Street in Greensborough, and it sold for $655,000 – $55,000 over reserve, Mr Jones said.
In the west, Yarraville remained popular even though buyers had to dig deeper to buy a house. Every one of the 13 houses auctioned in September sold.
Leo Dardha of Hocking Stuart Yarraville said growth in the inner west was largely driven by low supply over the past month.
“It’s the lowest stock that’s hit the market in the last five years in the inner west,” he said. “Lower stock equals higher interest on the properties, and that’s kept prices at a higher level.”
136 Hyde Street, Yarraville Photo: Hocking Stuart
The agency sold an unrenovated four-bedroom house at 136 Hyde Street in Yarraville for $1.15 million, a big price for a main road property in the inner west, Mr Dardha said.
Across Melbourne, clearance rates rose from 75 per cent in August to 77.4 per cent in July.
“We have a rising market in Melbourne now, whereas a year ago we had a falling market,” Dr Wilson said.
“We’re certainly going to be looking at [above 75 per cent] clearance rate mark going forward for the rest of spring.”