Last weekend provided further evidence that Melbourne’s property market is holding its ground on what was the busiest auction day of 2012 so far.
According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), 1006 properties went under the hammer last Saturday, and the clearance rate for the weekend came in at 61 per cent, continuing the recent upward trend for the number of houses being sold at auction.

REIV spokesman Robert Larocca added that the 2012 market continued to be tightly balanced, with strong demand ensuring properties sold, but sellers still having to rein in their expectations.

”While the market is not setting records, it is proving consistent, which is providing some certainty for buyers and sellers,” he said.
The last time the market experienced an equivalent number of sales was in November when the clearance rate was 51 per cent for 929 reported results.
Last weekend’s performance represented a win for sellers willing to put their properties on the market when demand still remains slow.

According to the REIV some vendors got cold feet, with up to 40 cancelling or postponing their scheduled auctions in the run up to the weekend.

The clearance rate is likely to be downgraded as post-auction negotiations fail or the missing results are tracked down, however many agents say the market has passed its most important test of the new year.
Meanwhile, for those who might have the odd $30 million to spare, international commodities trader Mr Socrates Vasiliades has relisted his home in Melbourne’s upmarket suburb of Toorak.

With 22 rooms, a lift, home theatre, gym, pool, basement parking and gardens, the property appears on the market for the first time since May last year when it was valued at $30 million.
An offer of $25 million was reportedly declined by Mr Vasiliades in recent months for the 2,140-square-metre property.
No new valuation has been given in the latest marketing campaign, which began this week.

Mr Vasiliades brought tradesmen from around the world to work on the property during its six-year construction. The chief executive of Core Mining now gives his residential address as London. The Toorak property was bought by his wife in 2002 for $4.6 million.

The record price for a Melbourne property stands at $24 million, paid in 2010 for 39 St Georges Road also in Toorak, by property developer Harry Stamoulis. Mr Stamoulis demolished the unrenovated house which meant he paid $24 million just for the land.