Fewer sellers to bask in Sydney's hot spring auction market

Sydney’s red-hot mid-spring market will host fewer sellers this weekend but those vendors seeking a buyer will continue to enjoy the best spring selling conditions for years.

Just over 600 homes will go under the hammer this Saturday, which will be lower than the 673 auctioned last weekend and again significantly fewer than the 796 over the same weekend last year.

Homebuyers in the local market continue to be constrained for choice compared with the record offerings auctioned over spring last year.

The inner west continues its reign as Sydney’s most popular region for Saturday auctions this weekend with 95 listings. Next highest is the upper north shore with 84, followed by the city and east 77, the south 74, the lower north 59, the south-west, west and north-west each with 42, the northern beaches 41, Canterbury Bankstown 37, the central coast 18 and the Blue Mountains with just one auction scheduled this weekend.

Randwick, Lane Cove North, Epping and Carlingford lead the pack as the most popular auction suburbs in Sydney this weekend. Next highest is Drummoyne with nine, followed by Baulkham Hills eight and a number of suburbs with seven auctions scheduled, including Lane Cove, Maroubra, Killara, Wahroonga, Strathfield, Stanmore and Marrickville.

The Sydney weekend auction market recaptured its boom-time vibe last weekend with the clearance rate moving back into the 80s in a spring market that continues to blossom.

Sydney recorded an auction clearance rate of 80 per cent last Saturday, higher than the previous Saturday’s 78.8 per cent and streets ahead of the 65.1 per cent recorded over the same weekend last year.

The return of the 80 per cent boom benchmark follows consecutive weekends just below this level and reflects a market with consistently high levels of buyer energy in most regions.

Boom-time auction activity in Sydney is being fuelled by a predictable resurgence in residential investors. Latest Australian Bureau Statistics data reports that lending to NSW investors increased by 1.6 per cent over August to $5.78 billion to be sharply 9.2 per cent higher than that recorded over August last year.

Investor lending in NSW over August accounted for 56.1 per cent of all residential lending recorded in the state – clearly the highest local market share by investors of all the states. NSW also accounted for 47.3 per cent of all residential lending nationally, indicating Sydney remains the favoured destination for investors.

Rising prices, relatively attractive yields and tight vacancy rates will continue to attract investors to the booming Sydney market – again keeping upwards pressure on already steeply rising prices.

Andrew Wilson is Domain Group’s chief economist

Twitter @DocAndrewWilson