Another strong auction result for Sydney sellers as Super Saturday looms

The Sydney late spring home auction market produced another strong result for sellers on Saturday, as the biggest test of the season looms with next weekend’s spring Super Saturday of auctions.   

Sydney recorded a weekend clearance rate of 79.5 per cent, which was similar to the previous Saturday’s 80.4 per cent and significantly higher than the 57.5 per cent recorded over the same weekend last year.

The Sydney auction market has maintained its boom-time seller momentum during spring, despite the usual surge in late season listing numbers. More than 760 homes were scheduled to go under the hammer on Saturday, which was similar to the previous weekend’s figures but again lower than the 863 listed over the same weekend last year.

Auction numbers have been significantly lower this year compared to last, however, the gap has been narrowing in recent weekends providing more choice for hungry buyers. Next weekend the Sydney market will host its peak spring Super Saturday of auctions with more than 950 homes due to go under the hammer.

The inner suburban and higher-priced suburban regions again produced exceptional results at the weekend, with a number of clearance rates exceeding 90 per cent.

The top performer was the ever-reliable inner west with a 91 per cent result, followed by the northern beaches with 90.5 per cent, the city and east with 90.2 per cent and the highest sales at 74, the lower north with 84.4 per cent, the north-west with 81.5 per cent, the upper north shore with 79.4 per cent, the south with 74.3 per cent, Canterbury Bankstown with 73.9 per cent, the west with 69.7 per cent, the south-west with 63.3 per cent and the central coast with 58.8 per cent. In the Blue Mountains, the single reported auction failed to sell under the hammer.     

Notable sales reported at the weekend included:

• a four-bedroom home at 1 Burton Street, Mosman sold by Richardson and Wrench Mosman/Neutral Bay for $5.77 million;
• a four-bedroom home at 1 Belgrave Street, Bronte sold for $3,685,000 by PhillipsPantzer Donnelley;
• a three-bedroom home at 8 Jackaman Street, Bondi sold for $3.62 million also by PhillipsPantzer Donnelley;
• a five-bedroom home at 34 Raglan Street, Mosman sold for $3.6 million by McGrath Mosman;
• a six-bedroom home at 63 Cotswold Road, Strathfield sold by Strathfield Partners for $3.48 million.

The most expensive property reported sold at auction at the weekend was a five-bedroom home at 6 Lavoni Street, Mosman, which sold for  $5.9 million by McGrath Mosman. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a three-bedroom home at 14/35-37 Anzac Road, Long Jetty, which sold for $395,000 by McGrath Long Jetty .

For a list of Sydney weekend auction results click here.

Sydney recorded a median auction price of $1,221,500 on Saturday, which was slightly lower than the $1,227,750 recorded the previous weekend. Saturday’s median was however 8 per cent higher than the $1,131,000 recorded over the same weekend last year. A total of $448.6 million was reported sold at auction in Sydney at the weekend.

Sydney’s strong housing market is being fuelled by increasing activity by residential investors. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data reports the value of investor finance approved over September in NSW, increasing by 8.9 per cent over the month to $6.18 billion.

The September result was 13.7 per cent higher than that recorded over September last year, but the total for the first nine months of this year remains 11.4 per cent lower than that recorded over the same period last year.

The value of residential investor lending accounted for 57.6 per cent of all lending for housing purchases during September and was the highest state local market share. The state also accounted for 48.7 per cent of all lending to investors nationally.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group chief economist. Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn and listen 2UE Lifestyle Radio Fridays 11am and Mondays 5pm