Melbourne spring selling season shows promise

Victoria has registered an auction clearance rate of 57 per cent of the weekend of September 17 and 18, perhaps indicating to investors that the spring selling season is finally underway.

Of the 593 properties up for sale, 338 of them reached the reserve price and were subsequently sold to the highest bidders.

Only 255 dwellings were passed in over the weekend after failing to reach the minimum amount set by their owners - and 173 of these were on vendors' bids.

While the rate was an improvement on last week - when 55 per cent of auctions cleared - it is still 12 percentage points below the amount recorded at the same time in 2010.

Despite these figures, the measurable increase in successful sales could indicate to investors with property management training that the expectations of vendors are coming more in line with those of prospective buyers.

This in turn could help to push those who have been planning to purchase property to take action, as they have more chance of having their offer accepted by the selling party.

It remains to be seen just how the rest of the spring selling season plays out - while initial clearance rates are up, actual volumes of properties available for auctions are down on the previous year.