Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrrell said the Melbourne property market was showing no signs of slowing down as auction volume ramped up with only fifteen days until Santa arrived.

“This week, the Ray White Victoria and Tasmania network had 263 auctions scheduled, the third highest week of auction volume this year,” Mr Tyrrell said. 

“Despite the inclement weather, buyers remain active with nearly 70 per cent of properties selling either at auction, just after or prior to the auction itself.

“In the lead up to Christmas, there are auctions scheduled every day of the week until December 23, with midweek twilight auctions becoming increasingly popular.

“A highlight for the week was a Thursday twilight auction at 9 Cuthbert Drive, Hillside through Ray White Melton’s Martin Mintoff. It sold for a record street price of $916,000 with over a hundred people in attendance and 21 registered bidders.

“There’s still plenty of heat in the market.”

8 Hamer St, Brunswick East

• Sold for $3.95 million - $1 million above reserve

• 11 registered bidders and two active bidders

• Agents: Jamil Allouche (0410 415 197) and Belinda Rabar

• Ray White Brunswick

“We had an opening bid of $3.2 million, which was well above the reserve,” Mr Allouche said.

“We had 140 groups go through the house in total, we had 18 second inspections and a handful of third and fourth inspections. 

“All the interested buyers were families looking to upsize, nearly all were locals except for a couple from Queensland who flew down for the auction. The buyers were a young, local family looking to move into the home.

“The house was meticulously finished, it’s a class above the rest and that attracted a lot of attention.

“I think Christmas has affected buyer activity but in this instance, I don’t think it was attracting that sort of buyer. We knew from the beginning of the campaign that it would attract people not actively looking, but once they saw it they would make a decision around it and that’s what they did.

“Most of the buyers were contemplating a renovation and then saw this and thought they probably couldn’t renovate to the standard of this house and it would take them two years just to get it finished.” 

52 Mill Ave, Yarraville

• Sold for $1.256 million

• Five registered bidders

• Agents: Joanne Royston (0402 996 622) and Lewis Perso

• Ray White Williamstown

“The auction guide was $995,000 to $1.08 million and the buyers (one half of the couple pictured above) were a young couple looking to move in,” Ms Royston said.

“It was a good campaign, we’ve sold a couple in the same street for this landlord and it’s the strongest result we’ve had.

“We had good numbers throughout the campaign because it’s a great opportunity for a young family to buy into the area. It’s really hard to find a double garage in Yarraville at this price point so that’s a big reason why we had so many bidders.

“The market is still a little unpredictable but again, good sized family homes, especially with a double garage, are always going to go well.”

Ray White Queensland chief auctioneer Gavin Croft said there were 81 auctions for Ray White across the river city this Saturday showing there’s no drop off in choice late in the year. 

“Our last few weeks have seen seven registered bidders per auction, as healthy an auction market as sellers can expect,” Mr Croft said. 

“As we enter the Chrismas period those genuine buyers with a strong appetite to secure will be out in force today. Inflated seller expectations are perhaps the only issue to stop sales unfolding. 

“With clearance rates hovering around 70 per cent over the last couple of weeks, early indications are this trend is likely to continue through to Christmas. A pleasing sign for those sellers set to sell at auction prior to the end of 2023.” 

Ray White Collective auction event

132 Gordon St, Gordon Park 

• Sold for $2.250 million - $50,000 above reserve

• Five registered bidders and two active bidders

• Lead agent: Holly Bowden (0431 922 110)

• Ray White Wilston

• Auctioneer: Phil Parker, Ray White (pictured above)

“Three of the groups were doctors including the winning buyers. The house is in between two hospitals, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and The Prince Charles Hospital so the location was attractive, and the buyers had family nearby,” Ms Bowden said.

“They spent all year looking and are so excited that they don’t have to go to any more open homes. They wanted to be in the house for the new school year and were running out of time.

“Anyone that’s really shopping at the moment, they are just so hungry to find a home so they can look into the next year knowing they don’t have to worry about another open home.”

Ray White New South Wales state auctioneer Perry Edmondson-Clark (pictured below) said 40 plus degree heat didn’t deter the serious buyers today. 

"The Ray White Group in NSW and the ACT recorded 125 scheduled actions today," Mr Edmondson-Clark said.  

"As Christmas approaches, both buyers and sellers are keen to transact and close out the year with a successful property transaction.

"Family homes or ones with renovation potential seemed to be the real winners today with multiple examples of registered bidders fighting it out tooth and nail."

6 Third Ave, Berala

• Sold for $1,723,500 - $82,500 above reserve

• Seven registered bidders and five active bidders

• Agent: Frank La Malfa (0401 316 877)

• Ray White La Malfa Group

“The auction was really good, we had a group of about 65 people and it started at $1.3 million and went from there. We had to do it indoors because of the heat,” Mr La Malfa said.

“The winning buyers (pictured above with the sellers and sales team) were a young couple living in Parramatta who had missed out on some other properties with my office in the past. We also had a few new buyers show interest so it was a real mix.

“It’s a small block of land and the house is about 20 years old but it’s really neatly presented and in a fairly good location. It just goes to show that a neat and tidy product still brings buyers.”

17 Marinea St, Arncliffe

• Sold for $1.34 million

• 13 registered bidders five active bidders

• Agents: Nicholas Economos (0409 553 555) and Tarun Cross

• Ray White Rockdale

• Auctioneer: Alex Pattaro, Ray White

“We had about 80 groups go through the house during the whole campaign so it was quite strong throughout,” Mr Economos said.

“The auction started with a $900,000 bid and quickly went up from there. It had a lot of momentum and eventually came down to two final bidders who probably brought it up the last $60-$80,000. 

“The purchaser is currently renting in Randwick. We had a lot of owner occupier buyers and not a whole lot of investors. 

“It’s in a nice, quiet street with rear lane access and a three car garage/workshop. It’s original and has been in the same family for over 70 years so it’s a little fibro house but you can tell it’s been well loved and looked after.

“Seeing 13 people turn up for this auction was more than we thought so it does suggest that people are wanting to secure something before Christmas.”

Ray White South Australia chief auctioneer John Morris said the rain continued to hammer down around South Australia today, but didn’t put a stop to the hammers raining down in the living rooms of the many homes being sold by auction in the great state. 

“Every single one of the auctions I've called today has been held indoors, but it doesn't look like the atrocious weather is putting a dampener on the results of the 75 plus Ray White auctions scheduled for this week,” Mr Morris said. 

“Last week, we had a 75 per cent clearance rate with five plus registered bidders and half of those participating. 

“The preliminary results are suggesting a carbon copy of last week with three out of four auctions selling under the hammer so far, and with those 76 scheduled auctions, this does mean that yet again, Ray White is monopolizing the auction space in the festival state with close to 40 per cent auction market share.”

23 Morawa Ave, Gilles Plains

• Sold for $670,000

• Seven registered bidders and four active bidders

• Agents: Liam McDevitt (0430 501 122) and Jessica Buckmaster

• Ray White Walkerville

“The rain couldn’t keep them away!” Mr McDevitt said. 

“The purchasers (pictured above) had only seen the property today before the auction and are thrilled. They gained permanent residency on December 1 and bought their first home eight days later.”

21 Canning Highway, South Perth

• Sold for $825,000

• Two registered bidders and one active bidder

• Agents: Jannine Blum (0403 058 167) and Vicki Rizo

• Ray White South Perth

• Auctioneer: Mark Whiteman, Ray White

“It’s a development site with a character home on it so we had a range of buyers looking at it, from investors to owner occupiers and developers,” Ms Blum said. 

“The people who bought it are owner occupiers that are going to do renovation to the existing home and use it as a family home. They’ve been in the area for a long time and love the character of South Perth.”

Ray White is a household name in Australasia, synonymous with the property and real estate industry. The White family owned and led property giant, established in 1902 in regional Australia, has 1,000 franchised offices across Australia and New Zealand. The group, with more than 11,000 members, sold more than 108,000 properties last financial year worth well in excess of $103 billion in sales value. The group’s scale and geographic presence across Australasia, and the fact it attracts the top performers in each market, is its advantage. Led by Dan White, the group spans residential, commercial and rural property as well as hotels, marine, property management and a leading property funds investment and advisory. The market leader called 31,000 auctions across Australasia last year. The group has trademarked the term 'competition creators’ as it firmly believes in the power of the open and transparent method of sale.