Two Knox areas popular among first-home buyers and families are among top suburbs for successful auctions.

Ferntree Gully and Wantirna South reported almost 100 per cent clearance rates in autumn in Melbourne, according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria data.

Melbourne had its largest ever autumn auction market with 12,267 homes going under the hammer in March-May, with 10,042 properties selling.

Ferntree Gully, sought-after by first-home buyers for its affordable prices and good-sized blocks, had a 96.4 per cent clearance rate from 56 auctions.

Neighbouring Wantirna South - the most expensive suburb in Knox - scored 92.7 per cent from 55 auctions.

Two more suburbs serviced by the Barry Plant group - Eltham and Blackburn South - also performed strongly, with clearance rates of 97.1 per cent and 93.5 per cent respectively.

Pent-up buyer demand, government incentives and record-low interest rates led to the bullish auction market in autumn.

“Wantirna South is popular among families who are attracted to its good schools while Ferntree Gully has a nice foothills location and is attracting plenty of first-home buyer activity and upsizers,” Barry Plant Wantirna auctioneer Daniel Cripps said.

In Ferntree Gully, four-bedroom homes were regularly sold with $1 million price tags, Mr Cripps said.

Meanwhile, Glen Waverley and Mt Waverley also recorded strong auction numbers in autumn, with 195 and 172 auctions respectively.

Both suburbs have long been auction hotspots with a high turnover of homes and buyers comfortable with the process, Barry Plant Monash auctioneer Tony Ievoli said.

“Auctions are seen as the best way to sell here and sellers do better using this process than with private sales,” Mr Ievoli said.

“Even with the lockdown, those auctions that go ahead are sold because there are enough buyers to get results and sellers are getting good prices.”

“Every real estate agency locally sells using the auction method as these suburbs are used to this method,” Barry Plant Glen Waverley agent Julie Guiqian Wells said.

“Most sellers want to use auctions because they see the good results and May was a very strong month for our local market.”

Ms Wells noted that many homes fetched more than was expected in autumn.

A recent top result was 6 Lemair Avenue, Glen Waverley. The five-bedroom house on 650sq m fetched $2,131,500 with seven bidders competing, Ms Wells said.