The Canberra suburbs with the best and worst auction clearance rates

Canberra’s best and worst-performing auction suburbs have been revealed. New data shows older, established suburbs have the greatest success, while newer suburbs are more likely to flop under the hammer.

Home owners in Charnwood looking to sell will be pleased to find out the suburb had the highest auction clearance rate among Canberra suburbs over the past 12 months, with 77 per cent of auctioned properties selling.

The analysis looked at clearance rates reported to Domain in each suburb in the 12 months to August 2019. Suburbs with fewer than 20 auctions recorded were omitted.

Coming in at second place was Wanniassa with 76 per cent of properties selling at auction. Followed by Page and Holt each at 69 per cent, Palmerston at 67 per cent and Garran at 64 per cent.

Canberra suburbs with highest clearance rates 

At the other end of the spectrum, Moncreiff had the lowest clearance rate with just 18 per cent of auctioned properties selling under the hammer.

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In the suburb of Gungahlin, the clearance rate was just 23 per cent. In Coombs, it was 29 per cent and Forde, 32 per cent.

Apartment-dominated suburbs, Kingston and Braddon, also recorded a low result at 32 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

Canberra suburbs with poorest clearance rates

Agents say that value is the driver behind the best performing auction suburbs, with Charnwood’s changing perception boosting its performance, according to Luton Properties Kippax principal Ben Oostermeyer.

“Charnwood has had a reputation in the past, which I believe has changed and the public is really viewing Charnwood very differently now,” he said.

“One of the benefits of that legacy is that it offers value.

“My expectation is that it has great potential for capital growth because it is starting from a much lower level and it is getting a lot more attention from buyers.”

Mr Oostermeyer said it was a combination of first-home buyers and investor’s driving the Charnwood market.

In Wanniassa, Mark McCann of McCann Properties said its position as Tuggeranong’s northernmost suburb makes it a highly in-demand suburb, and that buyers priced out of Woden Valley and Weston Creek tended to look in the suburb.

“The difference between Farrer and Wanniassa is two minutes by car but hundreds of thousands in property prices,” he said.

Upgraders from Tuggeranong suburbs further south, such as Banks and Gordon, are also attracted to the suburb, Mr McCann said.

Over the same period, Canberra’s combined auction clearance rate was 51 per cent.