Auction Markets Strong In Face Of COVID
The nation’s capitals showed resistance against uncertainty.
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Auction activity has remained strong, despite increased COVID restrictions across Sydney and Melbourne.
A total of 2179 homes were listed for auction capital city markets on Saturday, July 17 – a new record for July, surpassing the previous high of 1869 set just last weekend.
Across all capitals, auction numbers continue to track around double the levels recorded for the same weekend last year.
Record auction numbers also failed to slow the auction clearance rate with a national rate of 80.5%, higher than last weekend’s 79.5% and well ahead of the 62.5% recorded over the same weekend last year.
Clearance rates were higher in all capitals on Saturday – with the exception of Canberra and lockdown impeded Melbourne – the latter recording the lowest result of all the auction capitals (73.2%).
In Sydney, auction clearance rates held the line against tightening restrictions with a rate of 78.0% – a small rise from last weekend’s year low of 76.6%.
The weekend clearance rate continues to be influenced by a high number of withdrawals with a total of 21.0% of reported auctions – around double the pre-shutdown results.
Still, a July record of 872 auctions was reported listed in Sydney on Saturday – higher than the 782 auctioned the previous weekend and well ahead of the 471 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Sydney recorded a median price of $1,603,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was similar to the $1,631,000 reported over the previous Saturday.
However, Melbourne’s market proved to be less resilient when faced with the lockdown.
The Victorian capital still reported a robust 73.2% clearance rate, however, was down on last weekend’s 76.7% – the lowest weekend result since the previous shutdown impacted the result on June 12 at 69.0%.
The lower clearance rate was clearly impacted in a surge of lockdown-related withdrawals with 27.4% of listed auctions reported withdrawn – well ahead of the 9.5% withdrawals reported the previous Saturday.
Another July record 1061 homes were listed to go under the hammer on Saturday – ahead of last weekend’s previous record 977 auctions.
Melbourne recorded a median price of $992,500 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was higher than the $983,000 recorded over the previous weekend and 20.2% higher than the $825,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Data powered by Dr Andrew Wilson of My Housing Market.
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The actress and her husband, comedy writer Dave McCary, spent more than three years restoring the house, which is one of the priciest properties for sale in the Texas city.
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In 2021, actress Emma Stone purchased a historic estate in Austin, Texas, with a plan to move her family there. Four years later, she has instead decided to put the property on the market.
The actress and her husband, comedy writer Dave McCary, are asking $26.5 million for the newly renovated estate, according to Eric Moreland of Moreland Properties/Forbes Global Properties, one of the listing agents. The 1.25-acre property, located in the upscale Tarrytown neighbourhood, will be among the most expensive on the market in Austin.
Stone and McCary have spent more than three years renovating and restoring the Texas property, Moreland said.
A spokesperson for Stone didn’t respond to requests for comment. Moreland said the couple’s New York business interests have expanded since they started the remodel, and while they hope to live in Austin eventually, it doesn’t make sense for now.
The couple, who are co-founders of the production company Fruit Tree, own a roughly $12 million apartment in lower Manhattan, according to property records. Stone is slated to star in the upcoming contemporary Western film “Eddington.”
It’s unclear what Stone and McCary paid for the Austin property, since Texas is a nondisclosure state . The Georgian-style brick house dates to around 1940, making it one of the oldest estates in the area.
The roughly 10,000-square-foot estate includes a main house with four bedrooms and a two-bedroom guesthouse. The property also has a pool, a hot tub, and a garage with a screening room and entertaining space above.
As part of the renovation, the couple removed, cleaned and reused all the exterior brick. They also reconfigured some of the living spaces, opening the kitchen to the living room for a more modern layout. It took more than a year just to install the millwork in the screening room, said Moreland.
The contractors are now putting the finishing touches on the property, he said.
The “La La Land” actress has a track record of buying and selling her homes for significantly more than she paid. In 2022, she sold her blufftop Malibu, Calif., home for $4.425 million after buying it for $3.25 million in 2018, according to property records.
Last year, she sold her home in L.A.’s Comstock Hills neighbourhood for $4.3 million, significantly more than the $2.3 million she paid in 2019.
Austin saw an influx of new residents during COVID, but many of those are now returning to the East and West coasts, particularly workers in the tech sector.
While the market “has come down to earth a little bit” since the pandemic-era boom, Moreland said, he has seen a number of $20 million-plus deals over the past few months.
Moreland has the listing with colleague Diane Humphreys.
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