Sydney market now rising

The Sydney home auction market continues to produce strong mid-winter results for sellers with listings now on the rise as the spring selling season beckons.

Well over 500 homes are set to go under the hammer this Saturday in Sydney which is higher than last weekend’s 479 auctions and significantly higher again than the winter low of 396 auctioned over the same weekend last year.

Auction numbers are set to rise over coming weekends as the local market refocuses on the emerging spring selling season.

The inner west will be Sydney’s most popular region for auctions this weekend with 81 homes listed to go under the hammer.  Next highest is the upper north shore with 69 followed by the south 67, the city and east 65, the west and the lower north each with 46, the south west 41, Canterbury Bankstown 33, the northern beaches 30 and the north west and the central coast each with 21.

Blacktown and Mosman will host the most suburban auctions this weekend in Sydney each with 9 followed by Lane Cove North 8, Randwick, Ryde and Eastwood each with 7 and Camperdown, Surry Hills and Castle Hill each with 6 auctions listed this Saturday.

The Sydney July weekend home auction market continues to strengthen with confident mid-winter home buyers and sellers out in force.

Sydney reported a strong winter clearance rate of 73.1 per cent last Saturday which was higher than the previous weekends 71.5 per cent result but lower than the 77.2 per cent reported over the same weekend last year.

Sydney’s auction clearance rates have now increased over four consecutive weekends and are tracking at their highest levels for nearly two months.

Buyers remain hungry for Sydney property despite the usual mid-winter distractions and have clearly shrugged off recent fanciful predications of near-term interest rate rises.

Higher-priced inner suburban regions re-emerged as clearly the strongest suburban performers last weekend although most areas produced solid results for sellers with western suburbs trailing.

Latest Domain data reports another positive quarter for Sydney home price growth recorded over the June quarter.

Although Sydney house prices continue to rise, the rate of growth has declined sharply this year to be now significantly below the boom-time rates recorded through the latter half of 2016. Sydney’s median house price increased by 1.6 per cent over the June quarter to a new record high of $1,178,417 and remains clearly the most expensive of all the capital city markets, The Sydney median house price increased by $132,349 over the year – up 12.7 per cent.

Sydney unit prices also continue to rise and now at a faster rate than local houses despite recent record levels of new apartment construction. The median increased solidly by 3.2 per cent over the June quarter to $757,991. This was the sixth consecutive quarterly increase in unit prices with the growth rate the highest in two years – since the June quarter 2015. Annual unit prices increased by 10.5 per cent and clearly the strongest growth rate of all the capital city markets

Low and falling interest rates have been a key ingredient for rising house prices in Sydney assisted by a strong local economy, a chronic undersupply of housing and strong migration. The outlook for the national economy has improved recently so the prospect for further rate cuts in the near-term has diminished.

The ABS national jobless rate remained steady at an equal four year low of 5.6 per cent over June and signs continue of a resurgence in fulltime employment. Although optimism is rising, the economy remains fragile and likewise growing speculation of official interest rate increases in the foreseeable future remains fanciful.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Chief Economist Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn and Facebook at MyHousingMarket.