Auction Markets Strong In Face Of COVID
Kanebridge News
Share Button

Auction Markets Strong In Face Of COVID

The nation’s capitals showed resistance against uncertainty.

By Kanebridge News
Mon, Jul 19, 2021 10:38amGrey Clock 2 min

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clearance rate was clearly impacted in a surge of lockdown-related withdrawals with 27.4% of listed auctions reported withdrawn – well ahead of the 9.5% withdrawals reported the previous Saturday.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.

 



MOST POPULAR

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

Related Stories
Property
RBA Governor explains the rate rises we had to have
By KANEBRIDGE NEWS 07/06/2023
Property
The New Math on Inheriting Your Parents’ House
By VERONICA DAGHER 02/06/2023
Property
Australian home values bounce back for third consecutive month
By KANEBRIDGE NEWS 01/06/2023
RBA Governor explains the rate rises we had to have

Philip Lowe’s comments come amid property industry concerns about pressures on mortgage holders and rising rents

By KANEBRIDGE NEWS
Wed, Jun 7, 2023 2 min

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.”

MOST POPULAR

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

0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop