It was a huge weekend of auctions across the country, with Sydney again leading as buyers continue to make aggressive moves in a bid to get deals done by Christmas.
Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rate came in at 82.3 per cent, which was up sharply on last week’s final clearance rate of 70.4 per cent, according to the latest data from CoreLogic.
Meanwhile, Melbourne wasn’t quite as strong, coming in with a preliminary clearance rate of 73.2 per cent which was down from 74.3 per cent.
Across the country, the nationwide clearance rate was 72.9 per cent from a total of 2,599 auctions, which was also slightly higher than last week on a similar number of auctions.
Next week CoreLogic is expecting auction numbers to jump by 14 per cent, making it the biggest week of auctions so far this year, in what will be a big test for buyers to see if they can meet the extra supply.
Across the country, Australia’s leading auctioneers saw strong auction results as buyers look to get busy before the Christmas break.
David Holmes (Canberra/QLD)
David Holmes had a good weekend of auctions in Queensland, with strong buyer numbers continuing to be a highlight.
“It was another good weekend, with a lot of buyers out and some big open homes, lots of registered bidders and some big results over reserve, especially in Queensland which was great.
“If we continue this trend into the end of the year, we will definitely see an increase in the volume of auctions, which is good. And there seems to be a little bit more stock coming onto the market which is very necessary as it has been a little bit light on in the markets where I operate for the last quarter.
“I think we were over 50 per cent for the clearance rate, so for Queensland that’s exceptional and you don’t always see that at the end of the year. Given the amount of stock we’ve had on board, it’s pretty impressive.
“In what’s a positive sign, sellers are now not being confronted with one or two buyers or one bargain-basement buyer, you’ve actually got multiple buyers for each property which is good.”
Alec Brown (Canberra)
Alec Brown is seeing some positive signs in Canberra on the back of a record sale in the capital.
“All-in-all a pretty good weekend. We’re now at the peak of the season. There’s that real sense of now or never for 2019, so in the next couple of weeks, we’re likely to see some fantastic numbers.
“I’m pretty confident that in December, we’ll be running pretty much full gas right up to the 21st. It’s going to be right up to Christmas so there’ll be some good selling opportunities.
“The ACT’s auction record was broken on the weekend, for the highest-paid under the hammer, which was around $5.85 million for a property in Red Hill. When you want to look for signs of consumer confidence, suburb records or auction records are a pretty compelling statistic to suggest that confidence and demand are back.
“Economists are looking at some positive signs for Canberra with around 5 per cent YoY growth for 2020. I tend to think that’s a realistic outcome.”
Luke Banitsiotis (Victoria)
Luke Banitsiots is continuing to see good buying action in the lead-up to Christmas in Melbourne.
“We sold five from six on the weekend, with an average of four bidders at all of them. All of the ones that sold had very strong competition across all market segments.
“I had an auction in Burwood, there was a sale in the street about eight weeks ago, we sold for $250,000 more than that sale for something pretty similar.
“It feels like scarcity is creating some good competition in the lead-up to Christmas.”
Matt Condon (Victoria)
Ray White Victoria Tasmania Chief Auctioneer Matt Condon has overseen one of the busiest weekends of the year to date.
“It was another strong week for Ray White Victoria with the group recording one of its higher weeks when looking at auctions scheduled for 2019.
“The sunshine and weather saw an increase in the average crowd size per auction. Based on preliminary data from the RW Group, we have seen a very strong week, when looking at the average amount of active strong bidders per auction.
“It’s also great to see the buyer confidence in our market. When a property has been announced on the market and selling, we are seeing buyers actively competing past that point.
“It’s also great to see a number of buyers out within the local marketplace, purchasing property with the view to moving in just after the new year. Overall, RW Victoria is expecting a strong auction clearance rate.”
Stu Benson (NSW)
Stu Benson is seeing very strong auction results in Sydney thanks to some clever auction tactics and a hot market.
“The Sydney property market just keeps on keeping on, with not only another high auction clearance rate over the weekend but low days on market being tracked across both auction and private treaty listings. I finished the week with a 75 per cent clearance rate, with nine out of 12 properties selling.
“In saying that, Blind Freddie can see that the best prices are the ones being achieved either competitively at auction, or auction properties being snapped up prior to their auction thanks to ’too good to refuse’ offers.
“This weekend three of my listings sold via Friday night negotiations for prices that simply wouldn’t have been realised on the auction floor, by agents who expertly used the process to maximise their vendor’s return.
“My standout result was at 11.30 am on Sunday in Glenwood with 36 bidders competing for a home that was guided at $850K and had a reserve at $880K.
“The transparency of the agents netted them a $1,035,0000 sale, and the adoration of the 100+ crowd, many of whom are neighbours that are now considering selling.”
Gavin Croft (Sydney)
Gavin Croft had another strong week in Sydney with a solid clearance rate and high volume.
“There were 23 BresicWhitney auctions this week and 17 sold, giving a weekly auction clearance rate of 74 per cent with an average of three registered bidders per auction.
“So far this year, BW have conducted 566 auctions, 464 have sold on or before auction giving a YTD auction clearance rate of 82 per cent.”
