MELBOURNE'S home sellers are back in the driver's seat of the property market. 
Increasing numbers of buyers and too few properties for sale are pushing up prices, a property expert said.
RP Data research director Tim Lawless said conditions had tipped into a supply-driven local market over the last three months.
"We're seeing more competition amongst buyers for a lesser pool of advertised homes," he said.
"I think vendors are back in the driving seat with properties selling faster and vendors discounting prices less, which indicates to me that vendors are now holding the upper hand."
He said buyer numbers in Melbourne were up by about 20 per cent since this time last year, while property listings were down by about 11 per cent.
However, Mr Lawless said the Melbourne market was more balanced now than in early 2012, when buyers had a significant advantage.
RP Data's spring buyers guide reveals Australia's cheapest and most expensive suburbs.
View our Quarterly Postcode book for Melbourne & East Melbourne here
The guide shows metropolitan Melbourne's median house prices ranged from as low as $236,580 in the Yarra Ranges suburb of Millgrove to a lofty $2.73 million in Toorak.
It finds house prices in Melbourne have grown by an average 5.4 per cent over the past year. Read More