About 35 per cent of Melbourne’s listings are now discounted from their original listing price, up from 19 per cent last month, according to independent price tracker Spachus Aus. Among the discounted listings is a four-bedroom North Clyde home that has been on the market for 81 days and had its price slashed 27 per cent, from $1.5 million to $1.1 million. Other homes have seen even more dramatic cuts, like a two-bedroom North Fitzroy property that’s now discounted 29 per cent, down to $1.25
million, after 215 days on the market. On the map, discounts of more than 10 per cent and 20 per cent are shown in red and black, respectively. “I think a lot of sellers are expecting 2025 peak prices, but now it’s very different,” Spachus founder Phil Symmonds told news.com.au. “I think there are a lot less buyers in the market — we see that in auction clearance rates — and there’s a lot of uncertainty in general, given the budget change. “It was turning
before the budget, and we’ve got some data to back that up, but since the budget that’s just created more uncertainty for people.” On the map, light blue shows homes without a listing price, which have become increasingly common as the market turns. In Victoria, all properties must attach a price guide but some still list without a price, a practice Mr Symmonds said was “very annoying”, but indicative of a “buyers’ market”. “We’ve been noticing trends across Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane — more than
two thirds of properties don’t have a price, and that’s because agents are testing the market,” he said. Sydney is also covered in property listings without a price, with those now making up 70 per cent of total listings. Proposed housing measures in last month’s federal budget appear to have warded off investors, with negative gearing restricted and the 50 per cent capital gains tax (CGT) discount replaced with an indexation model for established residential property. Consecutive 25-basis-point interest rate hikes by the RBA in
February, March, and May, bringing the official cash rate to 4.35 per cent, have also hit demand — with several banks tipping two further hikes to come. Some commentators have suggested the conditions present a “golden chance” for first home buyers, but Mr Symmonds urged caution. “I’d say to people, wait. Hold off 12 months and see what the market’s going to do,” he said. “I don’t think rates are going to come down any time soon, so I wouldn’t encourage people to go and
get large mortgages and buy into the market when there’s so much uncertainty.” Spachus shows how much a property has been discounted from its original listing price, and Mr Symmonds said multiple vendors had contacted him asking him to remove failed listing prices. One seller wrote: “Please comply with my request… it’s my house and my right to have info about my house removed from the internet and I do not need to explain myself.” But Mr Symmonds has refused, citing a desire to keep
the market transparent. “As market conditions soften and prices correct, we’re seeing increasing pressure to remove property information from public view,” he said. “The reality is that listing and sale information is public information. “Once a property is advertised to the market, that data doesn’t simply disappear because the result wasn’t favourable.” It comes as both the Melbourne and Sydney markets are in decline, with home values falling 2.4 and 2.3 per cent respectively in the past quarter, and auction clearance rates hovering around historic
lows. The percentage change in home values on a yearly basis is now precisely 0 per cent for Melbourne, while Sydney remains modestly positive at 1.7 per cent. Last week, the final auction clearance rate for the combined capital cities fell to 47.3 per cent, marking its second consecutive week below 50 per cent. The Block auctioneer and real estate coach Tom Panos described the results as “not normal” and said they indicated the “weakest auction marketplace Australia has seen since the early days of
Covid”. Cotality’s preliminary figure for the capitals from this past weekend fared better, at 54 per cent, but this could be revised down on final results. “Despite the rise, this was the third week in a row where the preliminary clearance rate has held below 55 per cent and nine of the past eleven weeks has seen the preliminary clearance rate tracking below 60 per cent,” Cotality Research Director Tim Lawless said.
Melbourne property market, Spachus Aus, Phil Symmonds, property discounts, auction clearance rates, listings without prices, North Clyde, North Fitzroy, Sydney property market, Cotality, Tim Lawless
So they made a map because people can’t just list prices like normal? That’s wild.
Discounts up to 27-29% and now sellers are panicking. Feels like the budget change scared everyone, like immediately. Also the part about listings with no price sounds sketchy, like how are buyers supposed to know what anything costs.
Wait is this saying 35% of listings in Melbourne are discounted from the original listing price?? Or from what it actually sells for? I’m confused. But if it’s been on the market 81 days and they cut from 1.5 to 1.1… that’s a big hit. Maybe the agents are just trying to trick people with the no price thing.
Red and black map = basically a warning sign, cool. But honestly I think this is just what happens when “peak prices” never show up and everyone pretends it’s sudden. The budget change?? Isn’t that like the same thing every election? Light blue homes with no price, that’s the new scam where they bait you to call, right? Also if Sydney has 70% no price then how is anyone buying anything without getting played.