Fragile auction market tempts sellers to take bids

This weekend will be another big Saturday of auctions, with recent fragile clearance rates expected to encourage sellers to accept bids.

Almost 900 homes will go under the hammer this weekend and sellers will notice the higher levels of competition, which may be another motivating factor to sell while the market is showing some strength. 

A record number of October auctions were held last weekend and the highest clearance rate for three weekends was recorded at 70 per cent – just above the previous weekend’s 69.9 per cent.

Sellers may have a more circumspect attitude, with the market now sharply below the record-high results of autumn.

Although this Saturday’s auction numbers are below last weekend’s, they remain well ahead of the 704 auctioned over the same weekend last year.

Mosman is the most popular suburb for auctions this weekend, with 14, followed by a number of suburbs with 10 auctions scheduled, including Baulkham Hills, Marrickville, Ashfield, Liverpool and Lane Cove North. St Ives and Hurstville each have nine auctions scheduled this weekend.

Trend auction prices rose last weekend after three weekends of falls, influenced by higher volumes of sales from higher-priced regions. The latest Saturday trend price of $1,109,375 was higher than the previous weekend’s result of $1,104,375 and 14.5 per cent above the $969,000 trend recorded over the same weekend last year. 

Sydney’s weekend auction market steadied last weekend, recording a clearance rate just above the previous weekend’s result. This was encouraging for sellers and record numbers of October auctions flooded the market, offering buyers an unprecedented choice of properties.

The Sydney market’s challenges are still unrelenting, with high volumes of auctions going under the hammer for the remainder of the spring selling season.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group’s senior economist @DocAndrewWilson

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