The strong demand for houses in Victoria and its capital city, Melbourne, is helping sellers dispose of their properties sooner than expected, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV).
Data for the month of January show that an average house in Melbourne took only 34 days to be sold, down from 42 days recorded last year.
Outer Melbourne is the fastest-selling area in Metro Melbourne, with homes in the area taking just 33 days to sell on average.
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Overall, Warranwood and Montrose in Melbourne's East have the shortest days-on-market figures across the state at 15 and 16 days, respectively.
"The Melbourne real estate sector is in great shape, and eager buyers can't wait to get into a new home. Demand is high and local agents are being flooded with enquiries as soon as they list a new home for sale," REIV President Leah Calnan.
The chart below shows the changes in selling times in the top 10 suburbs in Metropolitan Melbourne:
The selling time on regional Victoria remained stable at 55 days. Brown Hill and Winter Valley in Ballarat recorded the shortest waiting period in the region at 22 days.
"Now is a great time to sell your property, with strong demand making the selling process quicker. Record low interest rates and easier lending conditions are allowing more buyers to get into real estate," Calnan said.
Below is a graph showing the changes in selling times in the top 10 regional suburbs:
Amongst metropolitan suburbs, Travancore recorded the most significant reduction in waiting time for the year, with the average home in the suburb spending just 42 days in the market, down from 65 days.
Croydown South came in second, witnessing its days-on-market decline from 39 to 20 days in January.
The biggest decline in days of the market across the state was recorded by Cohuna in regional Victoria. Over the year, the waiting time in the suburb went down from 228 to 98 days.
