Higher listings but lower rate greets Canberra autumn auction market

The official Canberra autumn selling season commenced at the weekend with lower clearances rates as the local market continues to be deluged by high levels of early-year listings.

Canberra reported a clearance rate of 67.5 per cent on Saturday which was well down on last weekend’s record February Super Saturday result of 77.0 per cent but higher than the 63.8 per cent recorded over the same weekend last year.

Seller confidence continues to rise with 83 auctions listed on Saturday which was higher than the previous weekends February record of 79 and also significantly higher than the 54 auctions conducted over the same weekend last year.

This weekend’s auction numbers will be the second highest on record for a March Saturday behind only last year’s pre-Easter Super Saturday of 92 auctions – the highest weekend total by the Canberra market recorded for any month. Auction activity will be down next weekend due to the distractions of the Canberra Day holiday long-weekend with just 21 listed.

Belconnen recorded the highest suburban clearance rate in Canberra on Saturday with a 78.6 per cent result followed by Canberra Central 73.3 per cent, Gungahlin 71.4 per cent, Woden Valley 62.5 per cent, Weston Creek 54.5 per cent and Tuggeranong with 53.3 per cent.

Notable sales reported at the weekend included a  4  bedroom home at 19 Newman  Street Yarralumla sold by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate, for  $1,625,000, a  5  bedroom home at 12 Schomburgk  Street Yarralumla sold for  $1,615,000 also by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate, another  5  bedroom home at 3 Arndt  Street Forde sold for  $1,400,000 by Luton Properties – Weston, a  4  bedroom home at 95 Scrivener  Street O’Connor sold by McGrath Estate Agents for  $1,370,000 and a  3  bedroom home at 2/108 Mugga  Way Red Hill sold for  $1,337,500 by Luton Properties – Manuka.

The most expensive property reported sold at auction was a  4  bedroom home at 4/15 Dalman  Crescent O’Malley sold for  $1,675,000 by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a  2  bedroom home at 13/35 Crisp  Circuit Bruce sold for  $432,500 by LJ Hooker Belconnen.

For a list of Canberra auction results click here Canberra auction results March 4

Canberra recorded a median auction price of $770,000 on Saturday which was lower than the $857,000 reported the previous weekend but 11.5 per cent higher than the $690,500 recorded over the same weekend last year. A total of $37.8m was reported sold at auction in Canberra at the weekend.

Low interest rates remain a significant driver for the recent strong performance by the Canberra housing market. The Reserve Bank gathers this week for its regular monthly meeting and following a positive result for national economic growth over the December quarter announced by the ABS, official rates are almost certain to remain on hold.

The direction of mortgage rates however remains problematic with banks likely to continue to push rates higher in the shorter –term reflecting finance market and regulatory pressure.

Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Chief Economist Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn and Facebook at MyHousingMarket