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Domain reported that Melbourne’s middle-ring suburbs stole the limelight on Saturday as the residential auction market kicked off for 2015.

House price growth in key areas 10 to 20 kilometres from the city center outperformed some expensive inner suburbs last year. This growth trend looks set to continue this year as affordability constraints put greater pressure on buying decisions.

This trend has been attributed to the fact that there isn’t a steady supply of houses in the inner ring, and affordability is driving people to buy family homes in the middle ring.

Middle suburbs such as Vermont, Wheelers Hill, Sunshine and Glen Waverley were the most prominent suburbs in Saturday’s listings. The Domain Group reported a clearance rate of 73 per cent from a small sample of 33 auctions.

Over the past six months, the middle and some outer suburbs, especially in Melbourne’s east, have grown more strongly than key precincts in the inner ring.

Domain Group senior economist Andrew Wilson said affordability issues were heightening competition in middle suburbs. This had led to significant year-on-year price growth in 2014 for Black Rock (up 31.1 per cent to a median house price of $1.38 million), Doncaster (up 24.2 per cent to $988,000), Ivanhoe (up 23.9 per cent to $1.03 million) and Sandringham (up 20.8 per cent to $1,235,000).

The article quotes Campbell Cooney, Director of Hodges, who says he’s seen big crowds attending open houses in the past week.

“An average house had 60 groups of people through it,” Mr Cooney said. “Another one had 45 – we would have been happy with 10 groups.”

Read the full article here.