Andrew Wilson: Canberra buyer activity on the rise

The distractions of the federal election campaign have failed to dampen the Canberra home auction market over June with buyer activity clearly on the rise. 

Canberra reported a June auction clearance rate of 64.8 percent which was well ahead of the 61.2 percent recorded over May and also higher than the 63.1 percent recorded over June last year.

Auction volumes, however, were down over June reflecting the impact of the Queen’s Birthday holiday weekend with a weekend average of 44 auctions compared to 52 averaged over May – but higher than the 35 result recorded over June last year.

Canberra has listed 1336 auctions over the first six months of this year which is an increase of 93 or 7.5 per cent over the 1243 auctioned over the same period last year.

Canberra recorded a median auction price of $684,000 over June that was higher than the $675,000 result for May and 5.5 per cent higher than the $646,500 auction median reported over June 2015.

Belconnen reported the highest clearance rate of all the Canberra regions over June with a strong 82.4 per cent and the highest listings at 51, followed by Woden Valley with 72.7 per cent, Canberra Central 64.1 per cent, Weston Creek 60 per cent, Gungahlin 53.8 per cent and Tuggeranong with a clearance rate of just 41.4 per cent.

The Canberra weekend auction market also finished June off on a high note recording a clearance rate last Saturday of 69 per cent from 35 reported auctions with a median price of $765,000. 

Auction activity in Canberra will typically track backwards over July with the usual mid-winter hiatus set to subdue the market. The local market is, however, well positioned for an early spring revival driven by low and falling interest rates and solid buyer momentum and rising seller confidence fuelling activity.

Although the Reserve Bank remains unlikely to cut official rates at its regular monthly meeting next week, despite concerns in some quarters over Brexit, a cut sooner rather than later remains on the cards.