So my personal opinion to that person who was looking to purchase in Melbourne i think yesterday from memory would be...
Melbourne clearance rates have been at their lowest in 7 years over the last 8-10 weeks. This is a great time to start negotiating on properties. Its a great time to get out there and get a feel of the market and establish value.
If you buy today you are buying in a soft market and the buyer has the upper hand and has more negotiating power in the whole deal. However its not a one way street, the buyer needs to be reasonable and the vendor needs to listen to the market. An idea would be to use a friend that has some experience in buying property or use a buyers advocate to take out the emotion from a buyers perspective and help you buy better if you dont feel confident.