Canberra's auction clearance rate declining year-on-year: Domain data

The auction clearance rate in Canberra has dropped year-on-year by 12.1 per cent, with 59 per cent of properties selling under the hammer over the month of August, according to Domain data.

This is despite Canberra recording the highest Saturday clearance rate of the year last month.

Gungahlin experienced the largest drop in auction performance over the month with a clearance rate of 48 per cent, down from 73 per cent from August 2017. The region also recorded the lowest clearance rate in the territory.

Weston Creek was the only region to record year-on-year growth, up from 48 per cent to a clearance rate of 70 per cent – the highest clearance rate out of the regions. Belconnen recorded the same clearance rate.

Clearance rates in Canberra have been gradually declining over the year and this is the third consecutive month the clearance rate has declined year-on-year.

Domain senior research analyst Dr Nicola Powell predicts the clearance rate over the spring selling season will track lower than last year due to tighter lending conditions and slowing price growth.

“I expect we will see a clearance rate around 60 to 65 per cent [as] there is less steam in the market compared to last spring,” she said.

Despite the decline, Canberra’s median house price continues to rise.

• Related: Canberra property market to heat up over spring selling season
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• Related: How Canberra house prices have changed since 2000

In a positive sign for buyers, the supply for both houses and units was up over August with 1221 houses and 1169 units listed.

Gungahlin had the highest level of new house listings over the month at 108, while Molonglo Valley had the lowest, at 10.

In the unit market, the Inner North had the highest number of new listings at 65, and Weston Creek had the lowest, at three.

However, rental supply continues to decline with the supply of houses dropping 17.6 per cent year-on-year and the total rental supply of units dropping 28.5 per cent.

Tuggeranong experienced the biggest annual decline in the number of rental homes at 23.5 per cent, while Queanbeyan experienced an annual increase of 4.1 per cent.

Supply of rental units in Woden Valley dropped annually by a staggering 30.6 per cent. Molonglo Valley and Tuggeranong were the only regions to experience an increase at 8.7 and 10.1 per cent, respectively.

Last week’s joint Adelaide Bank-Real Estate Institute of Australia housing affordability report for the June quarter showed the ACT was one of the only states or territories where rental affordability declined.

It found the proportion of income required to meet the median rent is 18.6 per cent, an annual increase of 1.1 per cent.

Housing affordability also declined in the nation’s capital with the proportion of income needed to meet mortgage repayments increasing by 1.1 per cent over the year to 20.9 per cent.

The latest ABS data showed owner occupier housing commitments fell 9.09 per cent between June and July 2018 in the ACT.