Victorian agents have never been busier since the restrictions around open homes have eased, although safe distancing rules still apply.

Grant Samuel of Kay & Burton told WILLIAMS MEDIA that his open home on the weekend at 24 Seymour Road, Elsternwick saw 31 groups of people go through the modern property.

"If you extrapolated the number out to a minimum of 2 people per group, there were about 80-90 people went through the property," Mr Samuel said.

"As there could only be 10 in the house at a time, we had alot of people waiting out the front.

"The open house took an hour to get everyone through."

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24 Seymour Road, Elsternwick had plenty of people at the last open home, according to Kay & Burton agent Grant Samuel. Photo: Kay & Burton

Mr Samuel said the popularity of the house showed there is plenty of demand out there, with limited supply.

"I would say everyone who came through the house on Saturday were potential buyers, not neighbours just coming for a look," said Mr Samuel.

"Now that restrictions have eased people want to get on with their lives, whether it's upsizing, downsizing, or whatever reason."

Mr Samuel said the house has been priced pre-Coronavirus at between $1.7-$1.87 million based on data back then.

"We originally started the campaign with Expressions of Interest, but have now switched to a private auction," said Mr Samuel.

"We will be restricted to 20 people, which is why we have made the auction private."

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33 Murray Street, Prahan is open to Expressions of Interest through Kay & Burton agent Julia de Campo. Photo: Kay & Burton

Julia de Campo of Kay & Burton told WILLIAMS MEDIA she has been busy during the whole period of the pandemic and has currently listed 33 Murray St, Prahan for expressions of interest, which close on 15th June.

"We put the property on the interent on Tuesday, advertising two open homes and I had five people come to the first one on Thursday, then 15 on Saturday, followed by two private inspections on Saturday afternoon," said Ms de Campo.

"On Saturday there was a queue of people waiting for the home to open.

"It's been a mix of downsizers and young families come to see the property and I know most of those who viewed it, as many have been looking to buy for the last 12-18 months.

"Now there is less choice for them, which is keeping prices stable."

Ross Savas, Managing Director of Kay & Burton told WILLIAMS MEDIA expats returning home make up 30 per cent of enquiry coming from offshore

Read More: Expats returning home make up 30% of enquiry coming from offshore

Auctions

The combined capital cities returned a preliminary auction clearance rate above 70 per cent this week, which was the highest preliminary result we’ve seen since early March, right before restrictions to onsite auctions and inspections were announced.

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Source: CoreLogic

The improved clearance rate was across a higher volume of auctions over the week, with 613 scheduled auctions.

While volumes were higher week-on-week, they remain significantly lower than what we would usually see, with 2,055 homes taken to auction over the same week last year.

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While volumes remain subdued across all capital cities, Sydney has been the busiest auction market over 7 of the last 8 weeks.

Given it’s been a few weeks since the ban for onsite auctions and inspections were lifted, agents and vendors have had the chance to start implementing marketing campaigns, and we are likely to see volumes gradually increase each week.

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