Melbourne Property Pulse 9 September 2026

Written By Emma Demirov

‍Spring has arrived, but this doesn't feel like the usual spring property market.

Buyers are cautious. Quality stock remains tight. Home loan applications have fallen. And while the headlines are full of predictions about falling property prices, good homes in good locations are still attracting attention.

Meanwhile, some significant changes are happening much closer to home including a major rethink of Northcote Plaza and new Victorian property laws that will change the way we buy and sell.

Here’s what I’m watching this month.

What’s Happening in Northcote?

If you live in the  Northcote area, you've probably heard about the proposed redevelopment of Northcote Plaza. Well, the plans have changed again, and they've become significantly bigger.

Developer Time & Place lodged revised plans in August for the southern end of Northcote Plaza at 25 Separation Street.

The new proposal includes 3 residential buildings reaching up to 24 storeys and approximately 670 apartments, along with podium level retail and a full line supermarket. It replaces the previously approved scheme, which had buildings up to 18 storeys and fewer apartments.

The original project was valued at around $500 million and has had a complicated planning history, including VCAT involvement and subsequent permit extensions.

And that's not the only significant development proposed for the area.

A separate state government planning application is underway at 235–239 Separation Street, with Darebin Council listing it among current state government applications.

Why does this matter to homeowners and buyers?

Developments of this scale don't just add apartments.

They can change retail offerings, traffic, population density and the overall character of an area. They can also change how buyers perceive different pockets within a suburb.

‍For anyone buying in Northcote, it’s another reminder that due diligence shouldn't stop at the property boundary.

You need to know what's happening around the property too.

Are Buyers Disappearing From the Market?

This is one of the more interesting things I'm watching. Home loan applications have dropped noticeably.‍

Commonwealth Bank recently reported that home loan applications had fallen around 15% since the May federal budget, with investor applications down even more sharply.

And this is broadly consistent with what the major banks have been reporting being fewer people are currently applying for finance.

Fewer buyers doesn't necessarily mean fewer opportunities.

If you have your finance organised, understand your borrowing capacity and are genuinely ready to buy, reduced competition can potentially put you in a much stronger negotiating position.

I've also loved watching Jessie the Mortgage Broker from Nexus go viral on Channel 7 remind borrowers that you don't necessarily need to accept the rate you're currently paying.

A simple conversation with your bank or starting the refinancing/discharge process can be enough to get the retention team interested in keeping your business, sometimes even getting lucky enough to get $2,000 to stay.

My tip: Don't just concentrate on the purchase price. Your interest rate can make an enormous difference to what that property ultimately costs you.

What Agents Are Telling Me

There's definitely a renewed sense of optimism now that spring has arrived. But agents are still feeling buyer caution.

Quality stock remains a challenge.  Sellers entering the market aren't necessarily selling because they'd simply like to move, often there's a genuine motivation behind the sale. They've already bought, they're downsizing, circumstances have changed, or there's another reason they need to transact.

At the same time, some vendors are still coming to market with ambitious price expectations. That means agents are having to work hard to bring buyer feedback and vendor expectations together.

I'm also seeing more properties being transacted off-market or pre-market, particularly where agents already have qualified buyers in their database.

Investor activity feels quieter than it did last month, particularly the rush from self-managed super fund buyers.

What does this mean for buyers?

Don't assume everything available is sitting on the major property portals. Engage with buyer advocates who have access to off market properties. And being known as a genuine, finance ready buyer to an agent matters even more.

About Those Property “Crash” Headlines…

You've probably seen them. Predictions of substantial property price falls are everywhere at the moment.

There is a genuine softening in the market. Melbourne dwelling values fell approximately 1.1% during August, according to Cotality data reported by Reuters, while national values fell 0.9%.

Buyers need to be careful about allowing dramatic headlines to become their property strategy. Waiting for someone to ring a bell and announce, “THIS IS THE BOTTOM!” sounds great in theory.

In reality, nobody knows where the bottom is until after it has passed. Melbourne isn't one property market.

A compromised property on a busy road, an investment grade apartment and a beautiful family home in a tightly held street can behave completely differently, even when they're a hop skip and jump apart.

If you're buying a home you can comfortably afford, you've done your due diligence and you're planning to hold it for the longer term, I'd be much more interested in buying the right property well than trying to perfectly time the market.

Melbourne Auctions

The final weekend of August gave us a pretty good snapshot of current conditions. Melbourne recorded a 53.7% final auction clearance rate across 644 auctions for the week ending 30 August.

That was up slightly from 51.9% the week before, but the really interesting comparison is last year. Auction volumes were 438 lower than the equivalent week in 2025.

A clearance rate tells us something about the market, but it doesn't tell us everything. The suburb, quality of the property, price point, vendor motivation and number of genuine bidders matter enormously. The Melbourne market isn't moving as one.

Big Changes Are Coming to Victorian Property Sales

Victoria has now confirmed a suite of changes designed to improve transparency around residential property sales, some start 1 October 2026.

1. Reserve prices become public

From 1 October, an agent must publish the seller's reserve price at least seven days before an auction or fixed date sale. If the reserve hasn't been published in time, the auction cannot proceed.

2. Statement of Information is changing

The existing Statement of Information will be replaced by a more detailed Property Price Statement. It will include more information about the subject property and the comparable sales being relied upon.

3. Sold prices will stay public

Once a sale becomes unconditional, the Property Price Statement must be updated with the sale price within seven days and remain publicly accessible for at least 18 months.

4. Section 32s will have to be available earlier…but not yet

The 14 day Section 32 requirement doesn't commence until 1 June 2027.

For auctions and fixed date sales, the Section 32 will need to be available at least 14 days beforehand. Different timing applies to private sales.

5. Early release of deposits is also changing

The existing Section 27 process is being replaced. An early deposit release will only be possible where the contract provides for it, and agents won't be able to take their commission from an early released deposit before settlement. Those changes are also scheduled for 2027.

My take.

More transparency for buyers is a good thing and the intent is right, but not necessarily well thought out. The REIV lobbied the Victorian government particularly hard to understand the impacts. It will be fascinating to see the unintended consequences, particularly whether we see more properties sold privately, pre-market or off-market rather than going through traditional auction campaigns.

‍Emma's Top Tips for Buyers This Month

If you need to sell to buy, seriously consider selling first.
In a cautious market, being able to make an unconditional or clean offer can be incredibly powerful.

Thinking about moving into a new suburb? Don't just drive through it. Cos play that you live there.
Catch the train you'd take to work. Have breakfast at the local café. Walk to the shops. Visit at 8am and again at 8pm. Talk to locals. You're not just buying the house, you're buying the life around it.

Engage a conveyancer early.
Have every contract reviewed before you sign. Even when you've looked at ten properties and the contracts all start looking the same. They're not.

View the advertised price range as marketing, not your valuation.
This is what agents will use to hook your interest in. Look at comparable sales and understand what similar properties have actually sold for.

When an agent tells you there's been “heaps of interest”, ask better questions.

Don't just ask:

"How many people came through?"

‍ Ask:

“How many contracts have you sent out?”
“How many second inspections have you had?”
“How many offers have been made?”
“Why weren’t those offers accepted?”

That's when you start finding out how much genuine buying interest there actually is. ‍

Script to Determine Genuine Interest

Agent: “Thanks for coming through. It's a great property, we've had heaps of interest.”

Buyer: “It is lovely. How many groups have you had through?”

Agent: “Around 20 groups a week.”

Buyer: “That's a great turnout. How much of that has been repeat versus new buyers?”

Agent: “Probably 40% repeat.”

Buyer: “And how many contracts have you sent out?”

Agent: “Three.”

Buyer: “Have you received any offers?”

Agent: “We've had one.”

Buyer: “Can you tell me why the vendor didn't accept it?”

Agent: “It was $20,000 below the bottom of the range, and they wanted a six month settlement.”

Buyer: “Okay. Price aside, is there anything else that's particularly important to the vendor?”

Agent: “They've already bought. They want a buyer with pre-approval and ideally no more than a 30 day settlement.”

And there it is. You know there's been one actual offer, why it failed, and something potentially even more valuable: what the vendor wants.

That's information you can use when deciding whether and how to make a successful offer.

Sources & Further Reading

‍ ‍

Emma Demirov
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Melbourne Property Pulse 11 August 2026