Welcome to Spring!
There’s been plenty of discussion about the property market cooling, but one part of the story isn’t getting nearly as much attention: the number of houses changing hands has fallen sharply.
Across Stonnington, house sales over the past three months compared with the same period last year look like this:
Malvern: 35 sales → 25, down 29%
Prahran: 39 → 22, down 44%
Armadale: 17 → 16, down 6%
Windsor: 20 → 11, down 45%
Malvern East: 60 → 42, down 30%
South Yarra: 38 → 25, down 34%
Toorak: 28 → 15, down 46%
Glen Iris: 77 → 44, down 43%
At first glance, those numbers might make a potential seller nervous.
But fewer transactions don’t necessarily mean fewer buyers, and what we’re seeing on the ground tells a much more encouraging story for anyone considering selling this spring.
There is still more than enough demand for quality, well-priced homes to create genuine competition.
Earlier this month was a good example. Across Jellis Craig’s 45-office network, we recorded a 78% auction clearance rate, our strongest result in months, with one in two auctions attracting multiple bidders.
More broadly, across August, our Armadale office recorded an 83% auction clearance rate, albeit on lower than normal volumes.
Clearance rates have moved around since, but the underlying trend we’re seeing remains the same: good properties are still attracting genuine competition.
29 Northcote Road, Armadale was a particularly good case study. Three bidders competed at auction and the property sold for $3,650,000, almost 10% above the $3,327,000 it sold for in 2023, despite no major improvements to the home since.
Of course, that doesn’t mean every property will achieve a result like that. Buyers are more discerning, and pricing, presentation and strategy matter.
But it does demonstrate something important: lower transaction volumes should not be mistaken for an absence of demand.
For homeowners who have been sitting on the fence waiting for the market to improve, I think that’s worth considering.
The market isn’t booming, and I wouldn’t pretend otherwise.
But quality homes are still attracting multiple bidders, competition is producing strong results in some cases, and buyers are prepared to stretch when the right property comes along.
For the right home, this could be a better time to sell than the headlines suggest.
David Sciola 