Melbourne breaks auction record

Photo credit: Kev Whelan

Melbourne has broken the record for the number of auctions in a single day.

1,648 auctions were held on Saturday 28th November, breaking the previous record for a single Saturday (1,626 auctions), which was set on 25th October last year. It also capped off a record auction week, with 1,749 events held last week, 62 more than in the week ending 26th October 2014.

In total during November, 5,669 auctions took place, 259 more than in November 2014, the previous record month.

Enzo Raimondo, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, welcomed the figures as the end of a "remarkable" year for the state's property sector, with 39,380 homes going to auction - a record high.

Mr Raimondo says the high number of auctions really is creating strong options for buyers: "With the high number of auctions, the clearance rate is starting to moderate which offers buyers excellent opportunities to buy prior to year-end.

"Melbourne property buyers really are spoiled for choice, with auctions in more than 350 suburbs in the next fortnight."

The busy month arrives at the end of 12 months where housing has attracted more attention than ever Down Under, with rising levels of Chinese investment in the market and equally growing concerns about rising house prices.

However, the city is now showing signs of cooling, according to the latest figures from CoreLogic RP Data.

Slower housing market conditions for Sydney and Melbourne became evident earlier in the year and continued throughout November, says CoreLogic RP Data's  head of research, Tim Lawless, with Melbourne property values falling 3.5 per cent in October 2015.