It’s been another strong result for auctions across the country as the clearance rate hit a two-year high.
Again it was Sydney and Melbourne leading the charge with Sydney coming in strong with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.7 per cent, three per cent higher than last week.
Melbourne was also strong with their preliminary rate almost hitting 80 per cent, but falling slightly to 79.7 per cent. Across the country the trend continued with a nationwide clearance rate of 79.6 per cent.
Alec Brown (ACT)
Across the ACT, Alec Brown oversaw what was a particularly busy week compared to the normal winter period.
“We had a huge mid-week event on Thursday where we took 27 properties to auction, with some amazing results. We finished with a 67 per cent clearance rate with a large number of bidders.
“Also the immediate post-auction results have been incredibly pleasing and we have an additional five properties that are moving forward with conditional interest.
“There were some really strong results that simply would not have happened using any other type of process, so we were very happy.
“Across the rest of the weekend it was back to traditional Canberra numbers with 33 auctions recorded and a 65 per cent clearance rate, with most properties seeing good bidder numbers and interest.
“With around 15-20 per cent selling pre-auction, it is still a positive sign for the marketplace.”
Justin Nickerson (QLD)
Justin Nickerson saw another great week in Brisbane with some properties seeing more than 10 registered bidders.
“We had another really good weekend. Quite a few had sold prior once again, while a few more had 10 registered bidders and had some really big numbers.
“Now that we’re coming into the spring selling season I expect we’ll continue to see good volumes and a lot of interest.
“I think the buyers are really starting to get some more confidence. I think the buyers are recognising that it is a good time to buy, and there’s no reason to wait.”
David Holmes (Canberra/QLD)
David Holmes is also seeing strong interest across the board as confidence continues to grow, but volumes are still lower than usual.
“We had a bit of a quieter weekend with a couple sold prior. But again there were good crowd sizes and registered bidders which is a very positive sign.
“The volume does seem to be coming in and also the confidence – not just with the buyers but also with the agents who are starting to book auctions coming into the spring, and even with new agents looking to find out more about the auction process, which is an interesting one and a good sign.
“I feel we might just see some record sales in September and October.”
Stu Benson (NSW)
Stu Benson oversaw another strong result out of NSW, with Sydney once again leading the way.
“I finished Saturday 5/6, and of my sales a real highlight was setting a new 2019 price record in Winston Hills, a suburb which has seen its median price trending downward for the last 12 months. The market’s back.
“Not only did we have another weekend of robust clearance rate across every sector of Sydney, but auction bookings are really picking up. The only logical answer has to be that everyone listened to the Elite Agent Elevate Podcast and are now trusting the process!
“In all seriousness, it’s important to note that the increased volume isn’t reflective of more stock, simply more agents and sellers choosing auction as their preferred method of sale in an effort to satisfy high buyer volumes.
“I adamantly believe that if you aren’t allowing the entire marketplace the time and opportunity to value a limited commodity, you’re doing both sellers and buyers a grave disservice.”
Luke Banitsiotis (Melbourne)
Luke Banitsiotis saw firsthand the real strength all around inner-Melbourne, however, volumes are still low headed into the spring, with listing numbers down.
“We’re seeing four, five and six bidders at each of our auctions at the moment with some massive numbers across the board.
“There are plenty of buyers at the moment, but there’s still not much stock. At this time of year, what’s on the market now is pretty much what’ll be on the market until the grand final down here in Melbourne.
“At the moment, we have probably got the lowest amount of listings that we’ve seen in about four to five years headed into the spring. But there’s lots of buyers out there, so that’s really what’s pushing the competition at the moment.”
Gavin Croft (NSW)
Gavin Croft saw a huge result this weekend in Sydney with BresicWhitney coming in with a 92 per cent clearance rate.
“There were 13 BW auctions this week, with 12 sold giving us a weekly auction clearance rate of 92 per cent with an average of 10 registered bidders per auction across all of today’s auctions.
“This year, BW have conducted 346 auctions, 274 have sold on or before auction day giving a YTD auction clearance of 79 per cent.”
