Auction Markets Steady As Listings Surge
Gloomy house value forecasts and a flood of stock can’t dampen the market.
Gloomy house value forecasts and a flood of stock can’t dampen the market.
National auction markets have continued to produce healthy results despite a record number of listings for this time of the year.
The national auction market posted a clearance rate of 81.5% at the weekend — similar to the 81.6% reported over the previous weekend but lower than the 84.5% recorded over the same weekend last year.
National auction numbers were again significantly higher at the weekend with 2341 reported listed compared to the previous weekend’s 1977, and well above the 1787 reported over the same weekend last year.
In Sydney, the market recorded more strong results despite record-level listings for February with the NSW capital recording 878 homes listed for auction — up on the previous weekend’s 784 and higher than the 624 auctioned over the same weekend of 2021.
Sydney recorded a clearance rate of 78.1% at the weekend – lower than the 79.5% over the previous weekend and well below the 87.3% recorded over the same weekend last year.
The median price for a house sold at auction at the weekend in Sydney was $1,750,000 — lower than the $1,835,000 reported over the previous weekend but 3.4% higher than this weekend last year.
Like its northern counterpart, Melbourne produced strong results despite another surge in listings.
The Victorian capital reported a clearance rate of 75.5% on Saturday — higher than last weekend’s 72.3% but below the 79.6% recorded over the same weekend last year.
A total of 1129 homes were reported listed for auction at the weekend — higher than last weekend’s 888 and the 1004 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne recorded a median price of $1,165,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was higher than last weekend’s $1,090,000 and 15.9% higher than the $1,005,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Data powered by Dr Andrew Wilson, My Housing Market.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Philip Lowe’s comments come amid property industry concerns about pressures on mortgage holders and rising rents
Leaders in Australia’s property industry are calling on the RBA to hit the pause button on further interest rate rises following yesterday’s announcement to raise the cash rate to 4.1 percent.
CEO of the REINSW, Tim McKibbin, said it was time to let the 12 interest rate rises since May last year take effect.
“The REINSW would like to see the RBA hit pause and allow the 12 rate rises to date work their way through the economy. Property prices have rebounded because of supply and demand. I think that will continue with the rate rise,” said Mr McKibbin.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia today released its Housing Affordability Report for the March 2023 quarter which showed that in NSW, the proportion of family income required to meet the average loan repayments has risen to 55 percent, up from 44.5 percent a year ago.
Chief economist at Ray White, Nerida Conisbee, said while this latest increase would probably not push Australia into a recession, it had major implications for the housing market and the needs of ordinary Australians.
“As more countries head into recession, at this point, it does look like the RBA’s “narrow path” will get us through while taming inflation,” she said.
“In the meantime however, it is creating a headache for renters, buyers and new housing supply that is going to take many years to resolve.
“And every interest rate rise is extending that pain.”
In a speech to guests at Morgan Stanley’s Australia Summit released today, Governor Philip Lowe addressed the RBA board’s ‘narrow path’ approach, navigating continued economic growth while pushing inflation from its current level of 6.8 percent down to a more acceptable level of 2 to 3 percent.
“It is still possible to navigate this path and our ambition is to do so,” Mr Lowe said. “But it is a narrow path and likely to be a bumpy one, with risks on both sides.”
However, he said the alternative is persistent high inflation, which would do the national economy more damage in the longer term.
“If inflation stays high for too long, it will become ingrained in people’s expectations and high inflation will then be self-perpetuating,” he said. “As the historical experiences shows, the inevitable result of this would be even higher interest rates and, at some point, a larger increase in unemployment to get rid of the ingrained inflation.
“The Board’s priority is to do what it can to avoid this.”
While acknowledging that another rate rise would adversely affect many households, Mr Lowe said it was unavoidable if inflation was to be tamed.
“It is certainly true that if the Board had not lifted interest rates as it has done, some households would have avoided, for a short period, the financial pressures that come with higher mortgage rates,” he said.
“But this short-term gain would have been at a much higher medium-term cost. If we had not tightened monetary policy, the cost of living would be higher for longer. This would hurt all Australians and the functioning of our economy and would ultimately require even higher interest rates to bring inflation back down.
“So, as difficult as it is, the rise in interest rates is necessary to bring inflation back to target in a reasonable timeframe.”
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual