CoreLogic released its auction report yesterday, which reported a decrease in the preliminary national auction clearance rate to 56.2% from 58.4% last weekend (later revised down to 55.6%).
The preliminary clearance rate was also way below the 68.2% recorded in the same weekend of last year:
Auction volumes nationally were 1,316 – way below the 1,857 recorded in the same weekend last year:
Once revised the numbers nationally are likely to fall into the low-50s.
Preliminary clearances in Sydney (-10.3%), Melbourne (-16.0%), Brisbane (-11.2%), and Canberra (-9.3%) were all lower than the same weekend last year, whereas Adelaide’s (+10.2%), and Perth’s (+15.4%) were higher.
The table shows the breakdown by houses and units:
Domain’s less comprehensive auction results were similarly weak, with a huge number of unreported auctions:
Experts believe that Sydney’s auction clearance rate could soon plunge to a 30-year lows. From Realestate.com.au:
After years of rocketing figures that priced many people out of the market, spring is set to hatch the best opportunity for auction buyers in almost 30 years… experts are forecasting only about 30-40 per cent of the properties due to go to auction in the next few months are expected to sell under the hammer — with the vast majority of the rest later selling at a discount.
This would take the citywide auction clearance rate — the proportion of homes sold successfully at auction — to its lowest sustained level since 1989, when the interest rate was an astronomical 18 per cent.
Back then the clearance rate hit a record low of about 35 per cent, kickstarting a long period of price falls.
SQM Research analyst Louis Christopher said spring clearance rates would likely fall to a similar level to 29 years ago due to a sudden surge in new listings. This will add to the glut of unsold properties already on the market, giving buyers a huge selection to choose from.
“It’s going to be a very good spring for home buyers,” Mr Christopher said. “Auction clearance rates are already very low and since spring usually sees a bounce in listings every year, it will mean the clearance rate will go even lower”…
“The only way clearance rates can go from here is down,” Mr Christopher said. “There is always an increase in auctions over spring because homeowners think the better weather and chance to get the sale done before Christmas make it the best time to sell.”
More evidence that Sydney’s property bubble is bursting.
