- The country's auction activity returned to an upward trend after a dip last week.
- Buyer demand and plateauing interest rates raising clearance rates.
- Sydney recorded the highest clearance rate.
After a 11.5% dip last week, auction activity returned to an upward trend that had been steadily growing over the preceding three weeks, with 1,911 capital city homes taken to auction, according to CoreLogic.
This time last year, much weaker selling conditions saw fewer homes auctioned (1,611).
The latest preliminary result of 71.3% also marks a huge improvement over last year’s result of 56.0%.
LJ Hooker head of research and business intelligence, Matthew Tiller, says in recent months consistently high clearance rates have been observed.
“This trend, occurring alongside a rise in auction listings, underscores the heightened buyer demand in the current market and is a key driver behind recent price growth,” he said.
Tiller added that current clearance rates have improved due to increased buyer confidence, with interest rates having peaked, and buyer demand rising due to interstate and overseas migration.
“In addition, individuals seeking to downsize their homes and mortgages, as well as investors aiming to capitalise on strong rental price growth, contributed to this demand.
“First-time home buyers are also keen to transition from the rental market, collectively driving the heightened clearance rates.”
Other movements:
- Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate dipped below the 70% mark for the third time in four weeks.
- Brisbane was the busiest auction market with 125 homes auctioned, followed by Adelaide (92) and Canberra (69).
- Adelaide recorded the strongest preliminary clearance rate across the smaller capitals for the seventh consecutive week, with 74.5% of auctions reporting a successful result.
Competition is ramping up
Ray White recorded a 76% clearance rate nationally, with bidder registration rising to 4.6.
Ray White New South Wales state auctioneer, Perry Edmondson-Clark, noted August was proving to be an exciting month for real estate across the state.
“With over 200 auctions scheduled this week, volume is clearly on the rise and winter is quickly becoming a distant memory as temperatures trend up,” he said.
“There is currently a great amount of variety across all buyer segments. And with an expected influx of stock to hit the market in the coming months, if sellers can beat the rush, they will put themselves in a better position to transact in this comfortable and incredibly normal market.”
The result at 60 Gubbuteh Road, Little Bay was the top auction of the day, selling at $5.7 million.
In Victoria, momentum in the property market increased as auction volumes rose to 181 scheduled auctions off the back of last week’s total of 162.
Ray White Victoria and Tasmania chief auctioneer, Jeremy Tyrrell, attributed this to three factors:
- Agents are reporting strong listing numbers going into spring,
- Landlords are selling out due to proposed government constraints for the rental,
- Media agencies report that the mortgage cliff has arrived.
“Even with these increases, buyer activity was strong as confidence builds with interest rates remaining on hold for the past couple months,” he said.
5 Lillee Close, Wantirna South was the top performer in Victoria, selling at $1.352 million.
“The bidders liked the locality of the property, it’s in a really quiet court which is hard to get into as you can see with the owners being there for close to 40 years,” said selling agent, Matthew George.
