Quieter start to Canberra spring selling season

The Canberra home auction market has commenced the spring selling season on a quieter note although the local market continues to remain generally in favour of sellers.

Canberra recorded a clearance rate of 65.9 percent on the weekend which was lower than the 72.5 per cent reported over the previous weekend and also down on the 81.6 per cent recorded over the same Saturday last year.

Canberra’s weekend result was lowest recorded for nearly two months and the third consecutive fall in rates with early signs the market may now be easing after recent strong results

55 homes were listed for auction on the weekend in Canberra which was lower than the 61 auctioned the previous weekend and higher also than the 52 listed over the same weekend last year. Canberra will host 57 auctions next weekend.

Tuggeranong reported the highest Canberra regional clearance rate at the weekend with 83.3 per cent followed by Canberra Central with 80.0 per cent, Belconnen 70.0 per cent, Weston Creek 66.7 per cent, Gungahlin 50 per cent and Woden Valley with a clearance rate of just 16.7 per cent.

Notable sales reported at the weekend included a  3  bedroom home at 66 Hopetoun  Circuit Yarralumla sold by Blewitt Properties, for  $1,100,000 a  4  bedroom home at 21 James McAuley  Crescent Wright sold for  $1,040,000 by Luton Gungahlin, a  3  bedroom home at 67 Piddington  Street Watson sold by LJ Hooker Dickson for  $921,000, a  4  bedroom home at 40 Christina Stead  Street Franklin sold for  $840,000 by Canberra Property Partners and another  4  bedroom home at 18 Deacon  Close Chisholm sold by Luton Properties Woden for  $785,000.

The most expensive property reported sold at auction was a  4  bedroom home at 20 Numeralla  Street O’Malley sold for  $1,400,000 by Luton Properties. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a  3  bedroom home at 3/34 Sunshine Lp Dunlop sold for  $540,000 by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate.

For a list of Canberra auction results click here Canberra auction results September 2.

Canberra recorded a median auction price of $710,000 on Saturday which was lower than the $734,000 reported over the previous weekend and nearly 1.0 per cent lower than the $716,000 recorded over the same weekend last year. A total of $14.4m was reported sold at auction in Canberra at the weekend.

Low and falling interest rates have been a key catalyst that has driven the Canberra home auction market over the past five years. Official rates however have now remained at current levels for over a year with the Reserve Bank unlikely to change its recent stance of steady rates over September when it meets this week.

Recent strong growth in home prices and rents indicates that Canberra remains an undersupplied housing market and is likely to continue as such into the foreseeable future.

Latest ABS building approval data for July reveals that the number of houses approved for building over the first seven months of this year remains 31.9 per cent lower than recorded over the same period last year with the number of unit approvals also down sharply by 24.7 percent or 640 fewer on the same this year to date comparisons.

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