The cold hasn’t seemed to bother property auctions across capital cities, as preliminary figures point to an improvement in clearance rates over the past week.
Williams Media reported that despite slightly lower auction volumes at 1,842, the combined capital cities' clearance rate climbed to 58.7%, up from previous week's 52.4%.
In Melbourne, the auction market remained robust: Of 946 auctions, 62.3% were successful.
Fletchers Canterbury real estate agent Jeremy Desmier told Williams Media that despite the thinning housing supply, the city still reported strong sales.
"It has definitely thinned out for buyers over recent months, but good sales are still being made. It is a more price sensitive market, but those who have priced their property at a realistic level are definitely still attracting buyers. Other properties are taking longer to sell, even when the pricing is right," Desmier said.
Auction figures in Sydney over the past week, however, were anything but stellar. Williams Media said the city could reflect a below 50% clearance rate when all the week's results from 635 auctions are finalised. If this happens, this would be the third time this year that clearance rates in Sydney fall below 50%.
Christie's International Ken Jacobs told Williams Media that a limited housing supply, as well as inactive sellers, contributed to Sydney's low numbers.
"The issue is there is a shortage of stock. It depends which part of the market you're talking about - if you mix it all together it distorts it. But part of the reason sales are down is because the number of listings is down. That is the number one trend we're seeing," Jacobs said.
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Collections: Mortgage News
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