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HERALDSUN.COM.AU SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

KARENS
ON THE
MOVE
BENN DORRINGTON
FOR Knoxfield homeowner
Karen Van Vliet, the timing
of her May auction was all
about a seamless move into
her new home.
Her three-bedroom home
at 4 Fernbrook Rise, Knoxfield
will head to auction on May 7
after more than two decades
under the same roof.
Ms Van Vliet is downsizing
into a nearby off-the-plan
home, with hopes the sale
coincides with the completion
of the new home.
She said the area had
become popular over the years
thanks to the bustling Knox
City shopping centre and its
proximity to Glen Waverley.
Prices have definitely
risen in the area, Ive lived
here for 24 years so Ive seen
them grow, she said.
Selling agent Dexter Prack,
of Harcourts Judd White, said
the autumn market was steady.
Knoxfields median house
price rose 21.6 per cent to
$680,000 in 2015, according to
Corelogic RP Data.

GET SET
FOR MAY
MADNESS
T

HOUSANDS of
Melbourne homes
will hit the market
after Easter with a
wave of bumper
auction weekends tipped for
late autumn.
Reservoir, Richmond, Glen
Iris and Mt Waverley are
shaping up as autumn auction
hot spots, according to the Real
Estate Institute of Victoria.
The REIV also expects a
boost in auction numbers in the
northwest suburbs of St Albans,
Footscray and Kensington,
along with Noble Park in the

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BENN
DORRINGTON
southeast. Auction numbers are
also tipped to rise in the eastern
suburbs of Burwood, Box Hill
South, Blackburn South and
Ringwood.
Vendors hoping for
uninterrupted sales campaigns
in early autumn have been

squeezed into a few key dates by

public and school holidays.
But buyers advocate
Richard Wakelin, director of
Wakelin Property Advisory,
said there would be a clearer
run after the Anzac Day long
weekend and big auction
numbers were expected on the
May 21-22 and 28-29 weekends.
He said there was a sense
that vendors were cashing in
after more than three years of
price growth in Melbourne.
Homebuyers were facing
better conditions this year with
fewer investors in the market

and continuing low interest

rates, he said. But serious
buyers would have to be ready
to act from the end of April to
get into the market before
listings fell away in winter.
With 6557 auctions held so
far this year, there have been an
extra 295 auctions on the same
period last year, according to
the REIV. The overall
clearance rate was slightly
lower at 73 per cent in 2016,
compared to 75 per cent for the
same time frame last year.
REIV chief executive officer
Enzo Raimondo said they

expected listings and auctions

to resume in May as vendors
tried to capitalise on the
autumn selling season.
Vendors will have limited
opportunities to go to market in
the next few weeks due to the
school holidays and Anzac Day
long weekend, he said.
Mr Raimondo said almost
5000 homes went to auction
last May and expected similar
numbers this year.
Barry Plant chief executive
Mike McCarthy said
Melbournes outer suburbs
would stand out as strong

performers through the rest of

autumn.
The affordability factor,
and the lack of stock, means
buyers are having to look
farther out than where they
would have wanted to six to
12 months ago, he said.
Mr McCarthy said a
shortage of listings this year had
kept the pressure on prices, with
the groups sales volumes
9.6 per cent lower for February
year-on-year while prices were
up more than 15 per cent.
benn.dorrington@news.com.au
@benndorrington