State of Markets – VIC January 2012

Melbourne vendors discounting
Vendors in Melbourne have been heavily discounting their asking prices, according to the latest statistics from RP Data.

The largest vendor discounts were recorded for units in Broadmeadows and Vermont, with reductions of 25 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.

Six months previously, the highest vendor discounts were recorded in Dandenong, with an average of 10.1 per cent.

Historically, the level for Melbourne has sat at around 6 per cent.

The discounting, however, is not indicative of falling property prices, with Vermont actually reporting an increase over the past 12 months.

Homes are taking 17 days longer to sell, shifting from 36 days in 2010 to 53 currently.

Building permit values at record high
The dollar value of Victoria’s residential building permit activity – including high rise – more than doubled in the first quarter of 2011/2012, compared with the same time in the preceding year.

New Victorian Building Commission data show residential building permit figures totalled $1.3 billion for the first quarter of 2011/2012, a 60 per cent jump on the total for that period in the 2010/2011 financial year.

The value of activity during the September quarter of this year was the highest on record overall, Deputy Building Commissioner Neil Savery said.

Domestic house permits were, however, found to have dropped by 9 per cent to $3.3 billion.

Northeast Victoria and Gippsland both reported overall decreases in permit activity, with falls of 24 and 23 per cent respectively.

Small drops in approvals were also reported in the southwest of the state (5 per cent) and outer Melbourne (6 per cent).

“Significant increases in the value of residential, retail and industrial building permit activity contributed to the result, as did rises in the hospital/healthcare and commercial categories,” Mr Savery said.