Solid auction numbers keep Sydney market ticking over

The Sydney home auction market will host another solid weekend of auctions this Saturday with the late spring market continuing to provide strong results for most sellers.

Over 750 homes are set to go under the hammer which although lower than the 831 auctioned last weekend, will nonetheless provide a reasonable choice for buyers. Auction numbers however remain well below the 940 recorded over the same weekend last year

The upper north shore will be back this weekend hosting the highest number of auctions of all the Sydney suburban regions with 113 listed.  Next highest is the inner west with 96 followed by the lower north 85, the city and east 84, the south 78, the west 77, Canterbury Bankstown 54, the south west 50, the northern beaches 49, the north west 33, the central coast 21 and the Blue Mountains with 2 auctions scheduled for Saturday.

Mosman once again is clearly the most popular auction suburb in Sydney this weekend with 16 followed by Blacktown 11, Ryde 10, Wahroonga and Greenacre each with 9 and Epping, Castle Hill and Surry Hills with 7 auctions listed this Saturday.

The Sydney home auction market weakened last Saturday reporting its lowest result for six weeks on the second highest day for auction numbers for the year so far.

Sydney recorded a clearance rate of 77.0 percent last weekend which although still an unequivocally good result for sellers was well down on the 81.4 percent recorded over the previous weekend.  Although lower, last  Saturdays result remained significantly higher than 59.2 percent reported over the same weekend a year ago.

Although the overall clearance rate was down last weekend, Sydney’s inner suburban higher –priced regions generally continue to produce booming results. The lower north was the leading performer with a stunning 93.3 percent followed by the inner west with 90.1 percent and the highest sales at 91, the northern beaches 89.3 percent, the north west 80.0 percent, the city and east 78.0 percent, Canterbury Bankstown 75.0 percent, the south 70.5 percent, the upper north shore well down this weekend with 69.6 percent, the west 61.4 percent, the central coast 61.1 percent and the south west with a clearance rate of just 48.8 percent. The Blue Mountains recorded a sale from its single reported auction.

Latest ABS data reported a decline in building approvals for Sydney dwellings over September with houses falling by 5.2 percent and the volatile unit series down sharply by 20.2 percent over the month.

Despite the fall, the number of house approvals has increased by 0.2 percent over the first ten months of this year compared to the same period last year. Unit approvals are also by 12.0 percent over the same this year to date comparisons indicating a continuation of the recent record surge in activity.

Latest vacancy rate data for house vacancies over October in Sydney remained tight at 2.0 percent with unit vacancies easing slightly to a still tight 2.2 percent and the same recorded over October last year.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Chief Economist Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn and listen 2UE Lifestyle Radio Fridays 11am and Mondays 5pm