Buyers’ Agent: Melbourne housing market is a “bloodbath”

PHOTO: The auction clearance rate in Melbourne has crashed, running at levels not seen since 2011

By Leith van Onselen

When the property spruiking AFR uses language like “bloodbath”, you know the housing situation in Melbourne has turned pear-shaped:

“It’s a bloodbath,” said Emma Bloom, a buyers’ agent for Morrell and Koren. “There’s a big increase in the number of auctions where there is only one bidder, passed in without a bid, or being sold below expectations”.

A credit squeeze, rising rates and falling sentiment are contributing to clearance rates slipping below 50 per cent in Melbourne, the lowest in eight years and down more than 70 per cent for the same weekend last year…

Claudio Perruzza, a director of Biggin Scott, added: “Slower sales means there is no buyer urgency”…

The below charts tell the story.

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