Canberra clearance rates edge lower but still reaching record highs: Domain Auction Report

Canberra’s auction clearance rates may be edging lower, but the housing market remains full steam ahead after the city’s median house auction price reached a record $1.15 million in March.

The Domain Auction Report for March showed Canberra’s auction clearance rates hit 78.9 per cent, up 2.8 percentage points from the month before but down 9.9 percentage points year on year.

The capital’s median auction price was $1.15 million, up 5.5 per cent from the month before and 25.7 per cent year on year. The auction clearance for houses sat at 79.4 per cent in March.

“Canberra’s clearance rate has fallen slightly below the 80 per cent seen for the majority of 2021,” said Domain chief of research and economics Nicola Powell.

“However, Canberra remains strong relative to the other markets, recording the best clearance rate out of the capitals in March. This is indicative of a still-booming auction market and the presence of consistent demand in the nation’s capital.”

According to the report, the auction volume for the last month was down 4.8 per cent from the month prior but it was up 58.6 per cent year-on-year and the highest volume of auctions for the month of March since Domain records began in 2000.

While the housing market has trekked on relatively unscathed by the volume of properties hitting the market, the same cannot be said about the unit market. The median for units was $706,000 in March, down 4.3 per cent from the month before, but up 2.9 per cent year on year.

“[This highlights] the strength and clear preference for houses in Canberra,” Dr Powell said.

The auction clearance rate for units was 76.5 per cent for March.

Blackshaw Tuggeranong real estate agent Robert Peaker said listings hitting the market have “thinned out buyers”.

“That frenzied state of buying we had last year, where we’d have 15 registered bidders at a single auction, has dropped off because there’s been more choice in the market,” he said.

“More properties listing for sale has definitely taken some heat out of the market but we’re still getting great sales.

“Last year, we got a bit comfortable and every property went to auction and we were selling at auction, but that has changed this time around. But, in saying that, if properties aren’t selling prior to auction or on the auction floor, they’re selling hours post-auction or even days later.”

When looking at the regions that saw the strongest auction clearance rate, Belconnen properties were more likely to sell under the hammer, recording an 88.8 per cent clearance rate in March, up 3.9 per cent year-on-year. 

Tuggeranong had the lowest clearance rate at 68.2 per cent, down 23.5 per cent year-on-year.

“Traditionally, Tuggeranong wasn’t the strongest auction market. It was always the inner areas but properties there are still selling post-auction,” Mr Peaker added.

While auctions have become the preferred method of selling for many properties, Fiona Murray of Independent Belconnen said she had sold most of her properties via an “offers-over” campaign.

“We started doing it two months ago … we noticed more sellers were coming to market and it’s almost like we’ve switched over to a buyers market, and thanks to some great data at our hands, having an ‘offers over’ campaign has worked quite well for both sellers and buyers,” she said.

“Auctions sometimes frustrated buyers and sellers so we started doing more of this type of sale and it cast the net wider in terms of the type of buyers who wanted to purchase.”

Ms Murray said she expected to continue carrying out offers-only campaigns over an auction process.

Mr Peaker said the supply of listings would tighten moving forward and anticipated more “sales prior to auction as we head into winter”.

“We’ll see less activity over the next few months with the seasonal changes but I still think auctions will continue to be the preferred method of sale,” he said.

“If you look back 20 years ago, people weren’t comfortable with it … now buyers and sellers understand it and it’s the most transparent way to buy and sell and determine what the market looks like.”