Sydney And Melbourne Auction Results Slide
However the national auction clearance rate held firm.
2 min
A further rise in listings impacted the auction market at the weekend with results becoming mixed across the country’s capital city markets.
The usual end of year rush to market has been exacerbated by the release of covid restrictions with many sellers compensating for the lost opportunities of recent months.
National auction numbers were reported at 2463 – up from the previous Saturday’s 2424 and well ahead of the 1439 auctioned over the same weekend last year.
While the major markets of Sydney and Melbourne were down, registering clearance rates of 76.1% and 76.5% respectfully, the national clearance rate rose yet again at 83.8% — higher than the previous weekend’s 81.9%.
Brisbane is now the nation’s leading home auction capital with 153 auctions across the weekend and a clearance rate of 89.5% — nearly 15% up on the previous weekend.
Sydney’s clearance rate suffered from the influx of listings with 994 homes auctioned – the highest November Saturday total for 6-years and well above the previous weekend’s 887.
The surge saw the clearance rate fall nearly 5% from the previous weekend – remarkably below the 78.5% recorded over the same weekend last year.
Sydney recorded a median price of $1,777,500 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was well below the $1,900,000 reported over the previous Saturday but 17.7% higher than the $1,510,000 recorded over the same weekend last year.
The Melbourne market fared similarly with the clearance rate down 4% from the previous weekend – its lowest clearance rate for six weekends.
In total 1095 homes were listed for auction at the weekend – lower than the 1193 the previous weekend but still up above the 480 auctioned over the same weekend last year.
Melbourne recorded a median price of $1,065,000 for houses sold at auction at the weekend which was lower than the $1,145,000 recorded over the previous weekend but 11.5% higher than the $955,000 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
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.”
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
