Holidays end and Canberra’s auctions rise but clearance rate falls

The Canberra home auction market resumed on Saturday following the relative pause in activity the previous weekend that reflected the distractions of the Labour Day long weekend holiday.

Canberra however recorded a sharply lower weekend clearance rate of 64.7 per cent on Saturday compared to the previous weekends 73.1 per cent result and well below the 87.2 per cent recorded over the same weekend last year.

60 homes were listed for auction on Saturday which was predictably significantly higher than the 35 auctioned over the previous holiday weekend and also higher than the 44 auctions scheduled over the same weekend last year. 47 auctions are due next weekend in Canberra.

Weston Creek again reported the highest regional clearance rate at the weekend with another 100 per cent result from five reported auctions followed also again by Belconnen with 77.8 per cent, Gungahlin 60.0 per cent, Canberra Central 50.0 per cent, Tuggeranong 25.0 per cent  and Woden Valley where the single reported auction failed to sell under the hammer.

Notable sales reported at the weekend included a  4  bedroom home at 27 Archer  Street Dickson sold by Luton Properties – Dickson for  $974,000, a  2  bedroom home at 7 Todd  Street O’Connor sold for  $905,000 by LJ Hooker Dickson, a  4  bedroom home at 117 Antill  Street Downer sold for  $835,000 by Luton Properties – Dickson, a  3  bedroom home at 2 Heaton  Place Downer sold for  $810,000 by LJ Hooker Dickson and a  4  bedroom home at 182 Kerrigan  Street Dunlop sold by Ray White Canberra for  $805,000.

The most expensive property reported sold at auction was a  4  bedroom home at 30 Ivory  Street Crace sold for  $1,157,000 by Luton Gungahlin . The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a  3  bedroom home at 3/112 Baldwin  Drive Kaleen sold for  $385,000 by LJ Hooker Belconnen.

For a list of Canberra auction results click here Canberra auction results October 7.

Canberra recorded a median auction price of $682,000 on Saturday which was lower than the $708,500 reported over the previous weekend but 5.7 per cent higher than the $645,000. A total of $21.1m was reported sold at auction in Canberra at the weekend.

Low mortgage rates have continued to be a driving force for the Canberra housing market with the Reserve Bank predictably deciding to keep rates on hold over October at last week’s meeting. Official rates have now been on hold at the current record low of 1.5 per cent since August last year with the clear prospect that they will remain steady for the for the foreseeable future.

The national economy remains perplexing for policymakers despite some improvements recently in full time jobs growth, a steady unemployment rate and a slight improvement to the federal budget bottom line. Chronically subdued incomes growth and low inflation despite an improved jobs market are challenging the orthodoxy of current macroeconomic policy.

Latest national retail sales data reflects low incomes growth with the ABS reporting a decline of 0.6 per cent over August seasonally adjusted which was the sharpest monthly decline since September 2010. The August result was also the second consecutive month of falling sales for the first time since July 2011. National retail sales have now been flat or fallen over 5 of the past 9 months.

And all states and territories recorded falls in retail sales over August with the ACT down sharply by 0.8 per cent.

The latest weak retail sales data together with sharply lower home building approvals – and an intractably high dollar – points to an economy in need of more stimulus with predictions of higher interest rates increasingly fanciful.

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