Key takeaways
Preliminary auction clearance rates were generally steady over the weekend, despite this week's interest rate rise.
1242 properties were listed for auction, considerably less than last weekend’s 1543, and well below the same weekend last year’s 1904 auctions.
Adelaide was once again the strongest performing auction market reporting a 72.5% clearance rate.
Other auction clearance results this weekend were Canberra (66.2%); Melbourne (62.1%), Sydney (57.8%) and Brisbane (46%).
Dr Andrew Wilson of My Housing Market reported a national auction market clearance rate of 60.9% at the weekend which was lower than the 62.0% reported last weekend and still well below the 81.5% recorded over same weekend last year.
The typically chilly mid-winter home auction market produced relatively steady results in most capitals.
1242 properties were listed for auction, considerably less than last weekend’s 1543 and, not surprisingly, this was well below the 1,904 auctions held on the same weekend last year.
With the media full of negative messages and the spectre of interest rates rising faster than many expected, discretionary vendors are losing confidence and not putting their properties up for auction.
Similarly buyers are being cautious suffering from FOBI - fear of buying into this market.
Once again Adelaide reported higher clearance rates at the weekend with Melbourne still solid .
Brisbane however continues to record lower clearance rates.
Currently, we're finding more homes are being sold before auction as sellers rush to make a deal rather than risk not getting a sale as vendors are becoming less willing to test the marketplace under true auction conditions.
Other properties are being passed in at auction, but selling straight after on negotiation with the vendor post-auction. The auction clearance rate doesn't always reflect this.
And it's likely that we'll see falls in the auction clearance rates moving forward reflecting weaker buyer confidence, poor affordability and rising mortgage rates.
Dr Andrew Wilson of My Housing Market reported a national auction market clearance rate of 60.9% at the weekend which was lower than the 62.0% reported last weekend and still well below the 81.5% recorded over same weekend last year.
Dr Andrew Wilson reported the following auction preliminary clearance rates for Saturday 6th August:
- Adelaide auction clearance rate - 72.5%
- Brisbane auction clearance rate - 46%
- Canberra auction clearance rate - 66.2%
- Melbourne auction clearance rate - 62.1%
- Sydney auction clearance rate- 57.8 %
Sydney auction results
The Sydney preliminary auction clearance rate was 57.8%; a little lower than last weekend's 62.5% and, of course, this will be revised lower to around the low 50% as the remaining auction results are collected.
As has happened over the last week, many close to 40% of Sydney auction results have not yet been reported by the selling agents.
Last week the final clearance rate for Sydney as reported by Domain was 50.2%, a reflection of falling buyer sentiment in Sydney
Of the 461 properties listed for auction this weekend 80 properties were withdrawn from sale - a sign of the challenges the Sydney market is experiencing, and these are counted as "passed in" meaning this will bring down the overall auction clearance rate.
Realestate.com.au reported that there were only 1,092 private sales in New South Wales over the last week - much the same as last week's 1,118. But, of course, many off-market Sydney property sales would not have been reported.
The following chart from Dr Andrew Wilson of My Housing markets shows the falling long-term trend of Sydney's auction clearance rate:
Dr Andrew Wilson's comments on the Sydney auction results
Sydney Lower Following Last Weekend’s Revival
The Sydney market eased at the weekend following the previous weekends highest weekend clearance rate since early July but remained at the levels general recorded over the past month.
Sydney recorded a clearance rate of 57.8% at the weekend which was well below the 62.5% recorded the previous weekend and significantly lower than the 83.0% recorded over the same weekend last year.
Auction numbers were well down on the previous weekend with just 421 reported listed compared to 570 and well below the 532 auctioned over the same weekend last year. Auction numbers were the lowest since the Queens Birthday holiday weekend in early June
Sydney recorded a median price of $1,470,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was again lower than the $1,497,000 recorded last weekend and 8.4% lower than the same weekend last year’s $1,605,000.
The Northern Beaches recorded the top Sydney regional clearance rate on Saturday with 68.1% followed by the Upper North Shore 67.5% and the Lower North 63.2%.
The Central Coast again reported the lowest clearance rate at the weekend with 25.9%.
The clearance rate for houses was 62.5%, with units well below this weekend at just 46.8%.
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Melbourne auction results
Only 550 properties were scheduled for auction this weekend in Melbourne - clearly discretionary sellers are not putting their properties on the market.
However buyers are still out there, despite the rising interest rates and Dr Andrew Wilson's Auction Insider reported a preliminary auction clearance rate in Melbourne of 62.1 % (a little stronger than last weekend's 60.5%) but, of course, this will be revised lower to the low to mid 50% once the remaining auction results are collected.
Last week the final clearance rate for Melbourne as reported by Domain was 53.1.
Interestingly only 50 properties were withdrawn from sale this weekend - significantly less than over the last few months. These are counted as "passed in" meaning this will bring down the overall auction clearance rate.
A further sign of the resilience of the Melbourne housing market is that Realestate.com.au reported that there were 1030 private sales in Victoria over the last week ( considerably more than the 900 in the previous week) and, of course, many off-market Melbourne property sales would not have been reported.
The following chart from Dr Andrew Wilson of My Housing markets shows the falling long-term trend of Melbourne's auction clearance rate:
Dr Andrew Wilson's commentary on the Melbourne auction results
Melbourne Auction Market Continues to Defy Rate Rises
Melbourne’s weekend auction market has commenced August with another solid result despite the announcement by the RBA this week of yet another sharp rise in official interest rates.
The Melbourne auction clearance rate was solidly higher compared to the previous weekend’s result and produced clearly the highest rate since the beginning of July.
Melbourne reported a clearance rate of 62.1% on Saturday which was clearly above the previous weekend’s 60.5% but lower than the 71.7% recorded over the same weekend last year.
550 homes were reported listed at the weekend which was significantly lower than the 692 reported over the previous weekend and well below the 1301 listed over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne recorded a median price of $968,500 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was similar to the $970,000 reported last weekend and just 0.9% higher than the $960,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne’s Outer East yet again reported the top regional clearance rate on Saturday with 74.1% followed well behind by the North at 67.5% and the North East at 66.4%. The West again reported the lowest regional rate at 48.6%.
The house clearance rate was 62.4%, with units again just below at 61.4%.
The following charts show the long-term trends in Auction clearance rates and the number of properties listed for auction.
Dr. Andrew Wilson commented...
Weekend auction markets have commenced August with more generally positive results despite yet another sharp increase in official interest rates announced by the RBA this week.
Auction numbers however were well down across the board at the weekend reflecting perhaps some growing unease from sellers.
Top Brisbane auction results
Top Canberra auction results
Top Adelaide auction results
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