Solid Sydney auction market resumes after Easter break

The Sydney weekend auction market resumes on Saturday following last weekend’s pause in activity due to the Easter holiday break. Just 56 auctions were listed last Saturday with a reported clearance rate of 71 per cent. However, this year’s Easter auctions were well ahead of last year’s 34. 

Sydney will host well over 500 auctions this weekend, which will be similar to the 535 conducted over the same post-Easter Saturday last year.

Sydney’s upper north shore region has the highest number of auctions listed this weekend with 85 followed by the inner west 81, the south 73, the lower north 53, the northern beaches 51, the city and east 44, the west 34, Canterbury Bankstown 32, the south-west 30, the north-west 28, the central coast 18 and the Blue Mountains with no auctions scheduled this weekend.

The most popular suburb in Sydney for auctions this weekend is Epping with 13 followed by Ryde and Baulkham Hills each with eight, Lane Cove and Randwick with seven each and a number of suburbs with six auctions scheduled on Saturday including Mosman, St Ives, Cremorne and Concord.

The Sydney auction market produced more solid and consistent results in March, recording a monthly clearance rate of 69.9 per cent. This was just below the 70.5 per cent recorded in February but well below the boom-time result of 82.5 per cent recorded in March last year.

Sydney weekend listings averaged 527 in March, well ahead of the 433 average recorded in February but well below March last year’s result of 753. The median price of homes sold at auction in March increased by 4 per cent to $1.25 million and was 13.1 per cent ahead of the median $1,105,000 recorded in March last year.

The Sydney auction market continues to produce divergent results with inner-suburban, higher-priced regions recording strong results compared to outer suburban areas – particularly to the west of the city where results continue to be subdued.

The lower north reported the highest clearance rate in March with a very strong 84.3 per cent followed by the northern beaches with 77 per cent and the city and east with 76.4 per cent. The west and the south-west recorded the lowest rates for the month at just 45.9 per cent and 47.8 per cent respectively.

Sydney’s city and east recorded the highest auction listings in March with 593 followed by the upper north shore with 441 and the inner west 370. The lower north clearly recorded the highest median auction price at $1.66 million with next highest the upper north at $1,475,000 with the central coast the most affordable with a median of $525,000.

Auction activity in Sydney will continue to rise through to the Queen’s Birthday holiday break in June, which will signal the beginning of the quieter winter auction market. Although auction listings are well below last year’s results at the same time, inner suburban clearance rates remain encouraging for sellers. However, weaker buyer activity is set to remain in lower-priced outer suburbs to the west, reflecting falling investor activity and recent strong prices growth subduing the market.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group’s chief economist

Twitter @DocAndrewWilson

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