Property: Sydney auction numbers down as market struggles to gain momentum

Sydney auction numbers are down this weekend with the local market straining to regather momentum after the Easter holiday break.

This Saturday, just 509 homes are scheduled to go under the hammer. This is below the 539 listed last weekend and also well below the 535 homes auctioned over the same weekend last year. 

Sydney auction levels this autumn remain far below those recorded over the same period last year. Falling interest rates a year ago were a catalyst for an unprecedented surge in housing market activity in Sydney, but so far in 2016 they have remained on hold. 

Sydney’s inner west has the highest number of auctions listed this weekend, with 82, followed by the upper north shore (78), the south (74), the city and east (58), the lower north (56), the south-west (34), the west (31), Canterbury Bankstown (28), the northern beaches (27), the north-west (19) and the central coast (17). The Blue Mountains have no auctions scheduled this weekend.

The most popular suburb in Sydney for auctions this weekend is Mosman, with nine, followed by Ryde, Randwick, Carlingford, Killara and Marrickville, each with seven, and Blacktown with six. There are also several suburbs with five auctions scheduled on Saturday, including Epping, St Ives, Lane Cove North, Strathfield and Bexley.

The Sydney weekend home auction market returned from the Easter holidays in the same robust form it has consistently produced so far this year.

Sydney reported a clearance rate of 73.7 per cent last weekend which was just below the 74.1 per cent recorded on the pre-Easter weekend the fortnight previous and also below the boom-time 86.8 per cent recorded over the same post-Easter weekend last year.

Last Saturday’s result was just below the average weekend rate of 74.5 per cent recorded over the previous nine Saturdays, with a high of 76.9 per cent and a low of 71 per cent reported over that period.

Low interest rates continue to support buyer activity in the Sydney housing market. This week the Reserve Bank predictably decided to leave official rates on hold over April at the record low 2 per cent for the 11th consecutive month. 

A near-term cut in rates, however, remains on the cards with continuing mixed reports on the health of the national economy.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data indicates the recent home building boom has peaked, the trend for retail sales growth is declining, house prices are flat or falling, inflation remains low in an increasingly lifeless economy and the Australian dollar continues to track well above the preferred levels of policymakers.   

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group’s chief economist

Twitter @DocAndrewWilson

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