As Brisbane’s auction clearance rate plummets to 17 per cent, an auctioneer has dismissed the bleak data, insisting the market outlook is more optimistic on the ground.
New data showed Brisbane’s auction market plummeted to 17 per cent last week, below the previous result of 20 per cent, but one auctioneer has suggested the reality on the ground may differ.
According to Domain’s data, 124 auctions were also reported last week, after 161 were originally scheduled.
Apollo Auctions auctioneer Michael Rebetzke said that on the ground, activity wasn’t as dismal as the company’s data suggested, with properties continuing to sell within two weeks.
“There’s no denying the clearance rates are low under the hammer but [agents] understand that stock that goes to auction and is passing in, is selling shortly afterwards,” he told REB.
“Even though the numbers are low, the wiser heads understand that this too shall pass.”
Rebetzke added that opportunities remained for owner-occupiers and counter-cyclical investors when agents provided the right pricing advice.
“I’m seeing agents who are giving realistic information of where buyers are currently still transacting,” he said.
“For those sellers who are selling after having held for a few years, they are still capturing the large gains since 2020.”
According to Rebetzke, the Brisbane market was lagging behind the larger capitals in the downturn, with Sydney and Melbourne further along in the cycle.
Despite activity remaining in the market, he said buyers had been increasingly hesitant, with the latest rate rise putting extra pressure on budgets.
“Because interest rates are so high and market sentiment is so bad, the buyers just aren’t, they’re feeling very reluctant and they’re sitting on their hands,” he said.
According to the data, 15 properties were withdrawn and 113 passed in.
Rebetzke said properties were withdrawn only when sellers couldn’t meet the market and pricing wasn’t in line with prospective buyers’ feedback.
“If you’re having March sellers still in this market, they have unrealistic expectations, and that’s when something should be withdrawn,” he said.
Sellers in other states have also needed to adjust to the slowing market as buyers continue to hesitate as a result of affordability pressures.
According to the data, Melbourne recorded a clearance rate of 51 per cent, down from 55 per cent the week before.
In Sydney, the clearance rate was 51 per cent, up from 46 per cent the week prior.
Meanwhile, Adelaide’s clearance rate was 34 per cent, up from 46 the week before, while Canberra’s early clearance rate rose to 64 per cent, from 36 per cent the previous week.
Despite falling clearance rates, Rebetzke said auctions continued to bring more buyers through the door than any other mode of sale.
He said they still continued to hold up in a weaker market as they exposed which buyers were genuinely ready to purchase and helped to establish a credible market price.
“Properties go to auction and then you’ll see buyers come out of the woodwork who are conditional, who want to know what it passes in for, and you’ll see who is bona fide,” he said.
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