Weston Creek auction market the strongest of all Canberra regions: Report

Weston Creek’s auction market is supreme among all Canberra regions after new data revealed the region recorded the strongest clearance rate for May, while Canberra’s overall auction market has weakened over the year.

The Domain Auction Report – May 2023 revealed Weston Creek’s clearance rate was 78.6 per cent in May, down 5.4 percentage points year-on-year. This was closely followed by Belconnen at 77.8 per cent, up 5 percentage points year-on-year.

“It’s the preferred method of sale for that area and I think we’ve certainly found buyers are confident to be able to buy it that way and sellers are confident in selling it that way too,” said Tim Burke of Luton Properties Weston Creek and Weston Creek.

“The auctions we’ve held in Weston Creek have also had a high number of registrations as well. We’d have between six to eight bidders at auction and because there are few properties available in the area and the high demand, we’re getting a good price for our sellers.”

Burke said while townhouses have been fetching up to $800,000 under the hammer, for standalone dwellings, sale prices have been around the $1.4 million mark, “and that’s for the more high-end homes”.

“There’s been a lot of demand for this region and on average, we have around 80 people through our open houses, which is double what it was a few months ago,” he said.

Domain’s chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell attributed the region’s strong auction clearance rates to affordability.

“When you look at Belconnen’s clearance rate, it has a similar outcome of 78 per cent and I think this speaks more to the affordability side of the conversation that we’ve been seeing in the property market in terms of low borrowing capacity and people looking into the more affordable areas,” she said.

“And what we’ve got now is that the most expensive region is the weakest auction market … the Inner South”

The report revealed the Inner South’s clearance rate was 59.1 per cent, up by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year. This was followed closely by Queanbeyan at 61.5 per cent, up 3.2 percentage points over the year.

Speaking on Queanbeyan’s clearance rate, Powell said the region “might not be as auction-centric as Canberra”.

Gavin van Zyl of White Rhino Property Googong-Queanbeyan-Jerrabomberra agreed, adding that buyers within the region would prefer priced properties.

“I still do sell properties at auction but very few and far between,” he said.

“To be honest, I do a number of sales in Googong and it’s not conducive to auction campaigning. 

“If I’ve got a particular property that I think is going to be sought-after and I’m going to have 30-plus groups through and I’m issuing 10-15 contracts, I’ll take it to auction because then there’s valid inquiry and there are enough contracts out there to guarantee a sale.”

When looking at Canberra’s overall clearance rate, it came in at 66.7 per cent, up 14.4 percentage points from the month prior and down 0.3 per cent year-on-year. Canberra was the only capital to have recorded a decline.

In May, the city had 290 scheduled auctions of which 150 sold under the hammer, 60 passed in, 22.2 per cent sold prior to auction and 6.7 per cent withdrew from auction.

“The auction market in Canberra has really suffered over 2023 and I think it was really the outcome of sellers going to market and not adjusting prices to meet the change in conditions which occurred very rapidly over 2022,” Powell said.

While winter is traditionally a “slower” season when it comes to listing volumes, Powell said the spring market will be one to watch. 

“I think for Canberra’s pulse check, we’ll be waiting for spring, which is when we’d see a boost in supply and it’d be interesting to see whether Canberra has the level of buyer depth to be able to support that increased activity from sellers,” she said.