Property remains hot in lead-up to Easter

Property results have continued to remain strong coming up to Easter with auction clearance rates and total sales values remaining high.

In Victoria, Real Estate Industry of Victoria chief executive Enzo Raimondo said in a statement that if demand continues at this level next weekend, then this year will see the strongest pre-Easter market in history.

“On this weekend there were 884 auctions reported of which 769 sold and 115 were passed in on a vendors bid, of those 67 were passed in on a vendors bid.”

“The clearance rate was 87%, which means this weekend was substantially better than the same weekend last year when a low 341 auctions were reported with a clearance rate of 75%.”

The total value of auction and private sales reported was $907.22 million, while next weekend is likely to see high performances with about 1,076 auctions scheduled.

There was also more good news for home owners in Victoria, with REIV figures showing properties in regional centres continued to gain value over 2009 to the tune of 7% to $276,000.

“Many parts of regional Victoria have benefited from the State’s growing population and the critical need for affordable housing,” Raimondo said. “Within key regional centres the strongest growth in prices was found in Bell Post Hill, Highton and Hamlyn Heights in Greater Geelong, in Alfredton and Sebastopol in Ballarat, and in Strathdale in Greater Bendigo.”

Properties in the city of Ballarat gained 6.1% since 2008 to $247,000, with properties in the city of Greater Bendigo gaining the most at 6.2% to a median of $249,500.

In Sydney, 247 properties sold with a clearance rate of 78%, with a total value of $212 million. In Brisbane, only seven properties sold with a total value of $4.3 million, while Adelaide saw 17 sales, indicating a clearance rate of 59% with a total value of $6.4 million.