Has The Worm Finally Turned?
Results for week ending August 2
Auction clearance rates were strong again in Sydney and Melbourne with clearance rates of 78.8 percent and 76.8 percent respectively. The national result came in at 77.7 percent.
The Stat
Sydney, often seen as the canary for Aussie property, has now experienced auction clearance rates below 80 percent for four consecutive weeks.
The Graph
The Numbers
Auction Clearance Rates | ||
Clearance Rate | Auctions | |
Sydney | 78.8% | 642 |
Melbourne | 76.8% | 655 |
Brisbane | 60.6% | 94 |
Adelaide | 71.9% | 57 |
Perth | 43.8% | 16 |
Tasmania | 33.0% | 6 |
Canberra | 79.2% | 40 |
| Source: Corelogic RP Data | ||
The Analysis
Sydney’s auction market suffered a hit on two fronts last weekend: both the number of houses auctioned fell, as did the overall clearance rate. Melbourne is well off its Autumn peak too.
What It Means For Investors
With fires raging in the Blue Mountains it is easy to forget we’re in the middle of winter. But the cold seems to be biting into auction clearance rates in Sydney and Melbourne. Only time will tell, but with banks raising interest rates for investors, and with a dip in auction clearances, there are clear signs that the market has peaked. We will know for sure if early spring property sales are lacklustre.
Comments
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Hi Steve,
Since watching these over the past months, Brisbane’s clearance rate has almost been GLUED to 50%. And today, 60%+ – woohoo. Sign of things yet to come?
I note it is still on a low total number when compared with Syd and Mel – but hey “There was movement at the station for the word had got around – that the colt called Brisbane has got away to a flyer….” (Sorry, Banjo)
:p
Benny
Hi Benny,
Unfortunately, because so few auctions happen in Brisbane it is easy for the results to experience dramatic movements week to week.
Maybe as more ‘southerners’ move up north there will be more auctions, but for the moment I would pay more attention to the number of listings, days on market and discounting to sale. These figures are reported in Australian Property Investor.
– Steve
Auction clearance rates seem to vary between websites. In domain.com it states 54% as of 1st of Aug.
http://www.domain.com.au/apm/Research/AuctionResults/
They do, which is frustrating. I think the best approach is to pick the data series you prefer and look at the trend.
– Steve