The one region in Australia where almost 90 per cent of houses are selling under the hammer
The Australian Capital Territory is known for many things, but being home to one of the strongest-performing auction markets is not one of them.
However, Weston Creek, in the nation’s capital, has taken the crown as the strongest auction region in the country, recording a clearance rate of close to 90 per cent in August.
According to Domain data, Weston Creek’s auction clearance rate was 88.5 per cent, up 15.7 percentage points year-on-year.
By comparison, the closest clearance rate was in Warrnambool and South West in Victoria, where clearance rates were 72.7 per cent, followed by Adelaide – West at 71.5 per cent. The closest region in NSW was Sydney – Eastern Suburbs, with a clearance rate of 69.4 per cent.
Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell says Weston Creek’s auction results testify to the type of stock going under the hammer.
“The right homes are going to auction and they’re going to auction with the right reserve price,” she says.
“Another thing driving strong clearance rates is that the number of auctions happening in Weston Creek is very small, so what that’s highlighting is that buyers are utilising this opportunity to buy.”
Tim Burke of Luton Weston Creek, Woden & Molonglo Valley says sellers are meeting the market, with more hammers hitting sold than not.
“Value is something that in tougher markets, becomes important and if sellers have high price expectations, they can’t align those expectations with buyers and I think that’s where buyers are at the moment in Weston Creek,” he says.
From a buyer’s point of view, buyer’s agent Claire Corby of Capital Buyers Agency says buyers have been looking towards Weston Creek because of the value for money.
“There are good family homes on a decent block of land and around the median price range so buyers are seeing more value in property there,” she says.
According to the latest Domain House Price Report, Weston Creek boasts a $975,000 median.
Brett Hayman of Hayman Partners says many buyers priced out of Woden Valley are going to Weston Creek.
“By many accounts, this area is still very affordable because if you look at the suburbs even next to it that fall in the Woden Valley region, you’re looking to spend upwards of $1 million,” Hayman says.
“Weston Creek is the region that brings in buyers with a budget of $600,000 to a $1 million … of course, there are homes on the market and homes that have sold in that $2 million bracket there but, for the most part, buyers can buy a decent home for less than that.”
Prices in Weston Creek are below their peak, Powell adds, which has given buyers more reason to buy now.
“Overall volumes are low but it is still much higher than this time last year, so buyers are leveraging the fact that choice is still good, supply is better and prices are below their peak … now is the time that they’re making that move and that’s creating this extraordinary clearance rate.”
Burke adds that the properties being sold at auction are mostly three-bedroom and four-bedroom properties.
“It’s families who are moving to the area and families who are upsizing within the area,” he says. “There isn’t a massive amount of stock available, which has helped contain and tighten those clearance rates.”
Weston Creek is a shining star compared to the rest of the capital. According to Domain data, Canberra’s overall auction clearance rate for August was 59.1 per cent, up by 4 percentage points over the month. This is a positive indication that the capital is on a slow recovery, Powell says.
“Canberra’s housing market is improving, the improvement is a slow burn but all these metrics are pointing to an overall improvement in the dynamics of Canberra’s housing market,” she says.
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