Brendan Wong
Sydney has achieved an auction clearance rate that is not only the highest of the year, but the highest ever recorded.
According to Australian Property Monitors (APM), the capital recorded an auction clearance rate of 84 per cent.
With the exception of last week’s result of 79 per cent, this was the seventh weekend where auction clearance rates had peaked above 80 per cent over the past eight weeks.
Similarly, RP Data recorded an auction clearance rate of 81.2 per cent, up from 75.3 per cent last week.
Senior economist at APM Dr Andrew Wilson said buyers were pouncing on properties at auction, despite a surge in auction listings.
“With sellers keen to avoid the distractions of next weekend’s general election, auction numbers rose significantly, with more than 200 extra properties going under the hammer this weekend compared to the same weekend last year,” he said.
“The 545 properties auctioned at the weekend was the second highest number offered for any weekend so far this year, with the highest being the 682 auctioned over the pre-Easter Super Saturday in March.”
Sydney’s upper north shores recorded the best result in the region with a clearance rate of 93 per cent, followed by the north west with 95 per cent and the central coast with 92 per cent. Sydney’s inner west and south each recorded clearance rates of 86 per cent.
In Melbourne, the auction clearance rate dropped from last week’s best weekend result of 77 per cent to 71.8 per cent, according to APM.
RP Data recorded a slightly higher result of 73 per cent, a fall from the previous week’s result of 76.2 per cent.
Dr Wilson said the clearance rate was still a solid result for Melbourne’s market, which had been showing signs of increasing strength over recent weeks.
“Whether the weekend auction market can continue its recent rise towards the strong 80 per cent mark will be tested over coming weeks, as listing numbers are set to rise substantially over spring,” he said.
Melbourne’s inner suburbs performed the strongest, with a clearance rate of 80.4 per cent, followed by the outer east with 73.2 per cent, the inner bayside with 72.3 per cent and the inner city with 71.1 per cent.
Across all the capitals, RP Data recorded an auction clearance rate of 72.9 per cent, up from 70 per cent last week.
According to APM, the most expensive property was in Melbourne, with a value of $4.05 million. The most affordable property was in Brisbane, with a value of $280,000.