MELBOURNE’S love affair with auctions is cooling as buyers swing back to private sales.
Victoria’s capital is touted as the auction capital of the world, but with the city’s clearance rate averaging 56 per cent – a figure that fails to take into account auctions that have been cancelled at the last minute for fear no one would turn up – vendors are shifting back to private sales.
About 23 per cent of all properties are now being sold under the hammer, down from 30 per cent a year earlier when the clearance rate was averaging about.
