How has the Canberra auction market performed in 2018?

I’m torn whether to sell my home by auction. How has the Canberra auction market performed in 2018?

There are a number of decisions to make when selling a home: from the agency, the agent and how to sell. It is about making good choices that will provide a favourable outcome. Choosing the method of sale is a crucial component of the selling process. Not only does it need to suit the market conditions but also your personal preference.

There are statistics associated with auctions that can give a good indication of buyer sentiment and the state of the market. These can assist a vendor to make an educated decision whether to send their home to auction.

Clearance rates are a fundamental statistic of auction market trends. They are reported weekly, which can give a vendor valuable and timely insight into current market behaviour.

Simply, clearance rates are the percentage of homes that are successfully sold at auction (this is inclusive of sales under the hammer, those that sold prior or immediately after) by the total volume of listed auctions.

When clearance rates move in to the realm of 70 per cent it is suggestive the market favours the vendor. When there is fraught competition between buyers and sparse stock auction clearance rates will be high – which translates to more homes selling at auction.

So far, 2018 has produced a clearance rate of 65 per cent for Canberra. It is slightly behind the 69 per cent achieved in the first three months of 2017.

Over the year-to-date there were 728 scheduled auctions with 82 homes sold prior and only 23 withdrawn from going under the hammer.

There are certain districts that have produced a strong clearance output.

A robust clearance rate of 75 per cent has been notched in Belconnen so far this year, down marginally from the 78 per cent achieved during the first quarter of 2017. The district has had 231 scheduled auctions over the year-to-date compared to 173 in the first quarter of 2017.

• Related article: Is there a month Canberra vendors tend to list their house for sale?
• Related article: Should I discount the price of my home?
• Related article: Should I accept a pre-auction offer?

This year the Inner North produced a clearance rate of 69 per cent with 100 scheduled auctions. The clearance rate has tracked lower compared to the first quarter of 2017, which was 77 per cent.

Tuggeranong had the third highest clearance rate of Canberra’s districts at 64 per cent, a vast improvement from the 56 per cent in the first three months of 2017.

It appears clearance rates have started to track lower in the Inner South, at 61 per cent over 2018 to date, compared with 70 per cent in the first three months of 2017.

Auction performance in Weston Creek has remained steady at 60 per cent over the year-to-date compared with 58 per cent in the first quarter of 2017.

The districts of Gungahlin and Woden Valley provided the lowest result, both at 56 per cent, compared with 64 per cent and 69 per cent respectively in the first quarter of 2017.

Keeping up-to-date with auction activity in your surrounding area will help to decipher whether an auction is the right method of sale.

View the latest Canberra auction results.