Staff Reporter
The latest auction clearance results suggest the spring selling season is gathering pace.
In Melbourne, the auction clearance rate topped 61 per cent, according to Australian Property Monitors (APM).
CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) Enzo Raimondo said the result should only get better in the coming weeks. The REIV reported a similar auction clearance rate for the city.
“Buyers will welcome the increase in stock and the choice of homes over the next few weeks with the market entering the last weeks of the spring selling season,” he said.
“There will be around 980 auctions next weekend, 1,000 in a fortnight and 910 the following weekend.”
Likewise, Sydney recorded favourable results with Tim McKibbin, CEO of the REINSW, describing it as a ‘spring revival’.
“With 563 properties reported ... 336 properties were recorded as sold, and 227 were recorded as passed in, to provide a clearance rate of 60 per cent," he said when commenting on auction results in NSW from last week.
“This spring selling season has indicated that clearance rates are trending upwards, a positive sign for the market. This month, we are likely to see continued strong results, as many vendors endeavour to sell their properties before the looming end of year deadline.”
APM statistics also shows that Brisbane recorded a clearance rate of 35 per cent while Adelaide managed a 25 per cent clearance rate.
In south east Queensland, independent auctioneer firm Jason Andrew Group (JA) reported a more subdued result for the region, largely on the back of "unrealistic price expectations" set by vendors.
"Although average buyer registrations at auction dropped to one of the year’s lowest rates last week, the overall SEQ auction clearance remained level at 47 per cent," the company said.
JA said it recorded an average of 0.98 registered buyers across the week compared to the previous week’s result of 1.2, while the number of registered bidders actually making a bid fell from 69 per cent to 63 per cent. There was an average of 11 people in attendance at each auction, down from 15 the previous week.
Director Jason Andrew said while the auction clearance rate has remained steady in recent weeks, many vendors are still holding on to "unrealistic price expectations" for their properties, which are failing to attract buyers.
“The average shift to achieve a sale on auction day fell back to 3.8 per cent, down from 9.4 per cent the previous week. Forced sales also fell from 66 per cent to 43 per cent,” Mr Andrew said.
“This indicated those vendors who successfully exchanged on auction day had already formulated a reserve price that was close to market value.”
“Although the clearance rate is still healthy, those vendors who are clinging to hopes of an early Christmas bonus on price are setting themselves up for failure as this is not the norm in the current market environment.”