The Sydney home auction market bounced back at the weekend
following last weekend’s year-low result.
Sydney reported a clearance rate of 79.7 percent on Saturday
– an increase from the 75.4 percent recorded the previous weekend but still below
the 82.1 percent recorded over the same weekend last year.
Although Saturdays result was a clear improvement, it was
nonetheless the fourth consecutive weekend with clearance rates below 80 percent.
Record numbers of auctions over the past month have been a contributor to lower
clearance rates with supply catching up with strong underlying demand and offering
buyers more choice of properties.
Lower listings this weekend however may have influenced a
pick-up in the clearance rate. 724 homes were auctioned on Saturday, well down
on the all-time August record of 848 auctions set last weekend. Although
auction numbers were down, Saturday was the second highest August auction day
on record and significantly above the 433 reported over the same weekend last
year.
The Blue Mountains reported the highest regional clearance rate
with a 100 percent result - two sales from two listings. Next best was a group
of higher-priced regions led by the northern beaches with 91.3 percent, the
lower north 89.8 percent, the city and east 88.9 percent and the inner west
86.5 percent. Canterbury Bankstown recorded a clearance rate of 80 percent at
the weekend followed by west with 76.9 percent, the south 75 percent, the south
west 72.7 percent, the upper north shore quite again with 72.3 percent, the
north west 70 percent and the central coast with a clearance rate of 65
percent.
Notable sales reported at the weekend included a 3 bedroom
home at 37-39 Crane Road Castle Hill sold by McGrath Castle Hill for $3,700,000,
a 6
bedroom home at 139 Wentworth
Road Strathfield sold for
$3,600,000 by Elders Inner West, a
3 bedroom home at 1/9 George Street Dover Heights sold for $3,210,000 by Phillips Pantzer Donnelley, a 5
bedroom home at 64 Pymble Avenue
Pymble sold by McConnell Bourn Pty Ltd for
$3,200,000 and another 5 bedroom home at 23-25 Shaw Street Petersham sold by Pilcher Residential for $3,102,000.
The most expensive property reported sold at auction at the
weekend was a 5 bedroom home at 25 Turner Avenue Haberfield sold for $4,230,000
by McGrath Inner West. The most affordable property reported sold at the
weekend was a 2 bedroom unit at 1/105 Ocean
Parade Blue Bay sold for $310,000 by First National The Entrance.
For a list of weekend auction results in Sydney click here Sydney
auction results Saturday August 15
A higher clearance rate this weekend in Sydney may also reflect a
sense of a fading market from sellers acting to lower price expectations as
indicated by moderating recent auction market price growth. The monthly trend median
home auction price in Sydney fell marginally from $1,035,000 last weekend to Saturdays
$1,030,125 but remains 14.7 percent above the $898,438 recorded over
the same weekend last year.
Investor activity has been a key component of Sydney’s recent strong
housing market activity. The ABS reports that investor activity continues to
rise, with the value of NSW ASB investor finance surging to a new monthly
record of $7.1bn over June – $600 million higher than last month’s then record
result and an increase of 32 percent over the first half of this year compared
to the same period last year. Investors now account for a record 62.4 percent
of all residential lending in NSW.
A strong local economy has also been a key driver of increased overall
housing market activity in Sydney this year. Latest ABS data however reports
that the Sydney July jobless rate increased sharply from 4.7 percent to 5.5
percent over the month and is now higher than the 5.1 reported over July last
year. Despite the rise in the jobless rate, the number of Sydney employed has increased
by 57,700 over the past year.
Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Senior Economist
Twitter@DocAndrewWilson The Property Show expert 2UE Saturdays 12.30-1pm
