Wyndham properties are now going under the hammer on Sundays and week nights to cope with the explosion of vendors choosing to sell their homes by auction.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Gil King said Wyndham had experienced a record number of auctions this year, with 838 properties going under the hammer to date – more than double last year’s record figure.
The clearance rate has increased slightly, from 79.1 per cent in 2016 to 81.9 per cent this year. But most Wyndham vendors still prefer to sell their properties privately, with 4351 homes sold this way so far this year.
Ms King said increased competition for homes further from the city was fuelling higher than usual auction volumes.
Ray White Werribee principal Michelle Chick said her office last year ran auctions on Sundays and Thursday nights during daylight saving and she anticipated it would start doing so again soon.
Ms Chick said that although some vendors were initially concerned at having an auction on a day other than Saturday, the sales results spoke for themselves.
“No matter the weather, no matter the day, no matter what’s going on … buyers will show,” she said.
“We are finding a lot of interstate buyers coming here, and they’re just getting so much more for their money in comparison to Sydney. There are a lot more investors than first home buyers.”
Ms Chick said Hoppers Crossing and Werribee were auction hot spots due to the Pacific Werribee redevelopment, with proximity to public transport also a drawcard.
REIV figures back that up, with the two suburbs accounting for more than half of all Wyndham auctions.
Hockingstuart Werribee senior sales consultant and auctioneer Samantha McCarthy said the agency had started running Sunday and twilight auctions to cope with demand. She said the office was running about nine to 11 auctions a week, although 22 properties went under the hammer at the weekend for super Saturday.
“I would say 90 per cent would be selling via auction, whereas two years ago, it would have been 10 to 20 per cent,” she said.
“[Auctions] create a transparent environment for buyers to compete and, in turn, maximise the potential sale price for the vendors.”
YPA Werribee director James Antonio said the agency’s five auctioneers were running all auctions on Saturdays, but other auction days had been discussed.
