It has been another strong weekend for auctions across the country as the national clearance rate once again finished above the 70 per cent mark.
With the weather heating up across the country, so too were the number of listings, which jumped nearly 20 per cent.
Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 76.6 per cent while Melbourne came in 77.8 per cent, both in-line with last week’s final clearance rates and a strong result given the influx of stock onto the market.
Much of the stock to hit the market, came from Melbourne, with agents and auctioneers not willing to take properties to auction this coming Saturday with the AFL Grand Final likely to keep numbers away.
Justin Nickerson (QLD)
Justin Nickerson had a solid weekend in Queensland, with some high-end properties selling strongly.
“We had a really strong weekend overall, despite the clearance rate coming in a little lower this week, but the number of registered bidders was higher.
“In particular we had a couple of high-end auctions that sold well, one for $1.8 million and another on the Gold Coast for $5.375 million and both with good registrations, so that probably demonstrates that at that top end of the market, there’s still a fair bit of depth and people have the money, so if they see value, they’ll still buy it.”
Luke Banitsiotis (Victoria)
Luke Banitsiotis believes the market in Melbourne is really showing some strength at the moment with some areas in particular attracting record prices.
“We had three auctions this weekend and again all of them sold. The minimum over reserve was $100,000.
“There is now clearly a segment of the market where we are starting to price some properties at the same level that we saw back in the peak in 2017.
“While some segments are still lagging, things like your four-bedroom family home, whether that’s a knock-down or the land, are back at those 2017 prices.”
David Holmes (Canberra/QLD)
David Holmes oversaw some increased crowd sizes which helped get some auctions over the line.
“We had some very exciting auctions in Canberra, especially this week, with all our properties meeting reserve with crowd sizes definitely increasing.
“The next couple of weeks should have some more good volume coming through.”
Josh Larsen (Sydney)
Josh Larsen from Di Jones Real Estate in Sydney continues to see strong results on the Upper North Shore.
“The weekend was strong, with 11 booked and nine selling. Registered bidders were strong, however, it’s pretty clear that stock is tight in Sydney.
“It does feel that the good stock is selling strongly with at least 3.5-4 registrations per auction.
“What we are seeing with the tighter stock, is that homeowners have fewer options of where to move to, so that’s a challenge especially with downsizers.
“We are seeing a steady increase in auction numbers, but there is an opportunity there, and if we get a couple of months of good media that could really help things along.”
Alec Brown (Canberra)
Alec Brown saw slightly lower numbers this week, but good properties are still selling strongly in Canberra.
“Volume for the ACT was down a little bit compared to the couple of previous weeks as was the clearance rate which was around 50 per cent.
“I suspect that is just coming down to one of those seasonal variations week-on-week and won’t remain steady.
“It seemed to be either a tightly-contested auction that went well above reserve, or they really were a little bit more of a battle. It used to be that we used to look for just the core bidders, but it’s now more a case of needing all bidders, just to get that minimum standard that you need.”
Stu Benson (NSW)
Stu Benson saw a small jump in stock over the weekend with fear of missing the market bottom a real factor for buyers.
“As is typically the case at this time of the year, there has been a lift in stock levels in most suburbs throughout the North West of Sydney, which has taken a tiny bit of heat out of some pockets.
“Sellers really can be their own worst enemy when it comes to ‘waiting for Spring’ to sell, along with everyone else. Fear of missing ‘the bottom’ is still a massive driver at the moment.
“My biggest result was almost $200K above reserve in Castle Hill at 11am on a Sunday, yet again proving that if you #TrustTheProcess, the results will come any day, any time.”
Gavin Croft (Sydney)
Gavin Croft had another solid weekend in Sydney with good bidder turnout and a number of properties selling well.
“There were 15 BresicWhitney auctions this week, nine sold giving a weekly auction clearance rate of 66.5 per cent.”
Matthew Condon (Victoria)
Matthew Condon saw another strong week across the board in Victoria.
“There was another increase in auctions this week by Ray White Victoria, with the spring selling season in full swing.
“This week saw healthy crowd sizes and above average active bidders. On the ground, the suggestion to buyers is do everything you can to be prepared to bid on auction day.
“Even when auctions are being passed in, we are still seeing a number of properties selling in the hours after the auction through negotiations. As such, we’re expecting a high auction day clearance rate this week”
