More realistic vendors come to market as Sydney auction numbers continue to rise

More property owners with realistic price expectations are listing their homes for sale, as the number of scheduled auctions continues to rise each week. 

There are 358 properties set to go under the hammer in Sydney on Saturday with only 26 sold prior so far. 

Last week there were 236 auctions scheduled and the NSW capital recorded a clearance rate of 69 per cent, revised up from the preliminary rate of 67 per cent.

Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said while auction volumes remained low compared to the peak of the market at the start of 2020, conditions had been slowly improving since restrictions on the real estate sector were eased.

“The clearance rate is high. It’s still a robust outcome,” Dr Powell said. “We still need to put it into the context of the low auction volumes. It’s a selection of cherry-picked homes that are likely to sell under auction conditions.

“What we have seen is a bit of an improvement in sentiment because we’ve seen restrictions relaxed.

“There are lots of green shoots. Everything is improving from that really low point in time during April, in the heart of the lockdown.”

Sydney’s scheduled auctions for Saturday

The Agency’s chief auctioneer and head of sales Thomas McGlynn said good results were still being recorded.

“There is a shortage of properties but that’s not an indicator that they can be bullish with prices,” Mr McGlynn said. “The sellers who are going to market are being fair with their pricing.”

He acknowledged the clearance rate was recorded off a lower volume of property sales than usual, but said the market was faring better than expected.

“Yes, compared to a traditional Sydney market, it’s not that high. But it’s still a good barometer,” he said.

“The first four weeks we were really expecting it to be a really tough three to six months … but it’s not anywhere near the downturn we expected.”

Mr McGlynn said the agency’s listings were comparable to May 2019 and would perhaps be even better in coming weeks with a forecast increase.

Meanwhile, properties in the city are drawing an average of one to two buyers, says Belle Property Surry Hills selling agent Mark Foy.

Since auctions and open homes have resumed, more sellers had come to market and brought new buyers, he said. 

“I’ve noticed it’s been a bit tricker to put deals together with the reopening of open homes, there’s more stock on the market,” he said. “There are more buyers but they are research buyers so they’ll be ready in a few months.”

Mr Foy said it was easier to sell property during the restrictions because he was dealing with qualified buyers who were ready to transact.

“If they were seeing at least a 10 per cent discount they were happy to move forward,” he said.

In the lower north shore, Raine&Horne Lane Cove selling agent Alex Banning said prices within their agency have neither dropped nor increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s more or less a stagnant market,” he said. “There’s not a lot to choose from and that’s helping prop up prices just through scarcity.

“Vendors who are on the market now are motivated to sell and have realistic expectations.

“When the market’s extremely buoyant we get opportunistic vendors where they want to cash out when you get those huge prices,” he added. “Those sellers have gone. We’re working with more realistic, level-headed vendors.”