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Brendan Wong
Sydney’s weekend auction clearance rate fell below 80 per cent for the first time in two months ending a record-breaking streak, according to Australian Property Monitors (APM).
APM recorded an auction clearance rate of 79.9 per cent Sydney, just under the 80 per cent mark, across 630 auctions.
On the other hand, RP Data recorded a clearance rate of 81.1 per cent across 895 auctions.
Senior economist at APM Dr Andrew Wilson said high listing numbers continued to test the Sydney auction market with the 630 homes that were auctioned being more than the 426 auctioned on the same weekend last year.
“This weekend’s auction clearance rate although down notably from last weekend’s 85.9 per cent result remained well ahead of the 64 per cent recorded a year ago,” he said.
“Sydney’s record-breaking auction market stepped back marginally this weekend although the result still reflects continuing strong market conditions.
“Tests continue however with high numbers of auctions again scheduled for next weekend.”
In Melbourne, APM recorded an auction clearance rate of 72.4 per cent across 938 auctions, a drop from last weekend’s 76.1 per cent and the lowest rate recorded this spring.
RP Data recorded a clearance rate of 69.9 per cent across 1,124 auctions.
RP Data Victoria housing market specialist Robert Larocca said: “This week’s clearance rate is broadly in line with year to date of 70 per cent but below last week’s 74 per cent.
“This is the first week below 70 per cent in a few months but the variance is not unusual not a sign of softening demand at this stage as other weeks have seen 3 to 4 point changes in the clearance rate.”
Dr Wilson said Melbourne’s lower clearance rate was due to the highest number of properties offered for auction so far this spring.
“And extraordinarily strong auction numbers will continue to test the market with next weekend’s pre-Melbourne Cup holiday weekend Super Saturday extravaganza set to host well over 1300 home auctions.
“This will be one of the highest ever weekends for auctions recorded in Melbourne as sellers rush into the market to take advantage of the solid to strong buyer competition for properties evident so far this spring.”
Across the capital cities combined, the auction clearance rate was recorded at 71.6 per cent across 1,559 auctions, according to RP Data.
APM reported that the most expensive property was in Sydney with a value of $3 million while the most affordable property was in Adelaide with a value of $179,000.
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