Slightly ‘disappointing’ auction results, but Sydney house prices swell

Sydney was host to 844 auctions this week, increasing from 768 over the previous week, although lower than this time last year when 1,087 homes were taken to auction across the city. The preliminary clearance rate came in at 88.9 per cent this week, according to CoreLogic, up slightly from the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 88.2 per cent, which revised down to 83.4 per cent at final figures.

Auction Insider reported slightly more favourable figures, but branded what is usually a “Super Saturday of auctions” a “disappointment” compared to last year’s offerings over the same weekend.

According to Dr Andrew Wilson, chief economist at Archistar, vendors could be holding back with signs of lower new listing growth continuing to emerge.  

But despite the lower-than-expected figures, Sydney, Dr Wilson said, looks to have hit the boom-time result of 90 per cent. In fact, all other capitals again reported fairly high clearance rates, with Melbourne moving above 80 per cent for the first time in weeks.

“The Sydney home auction market is now tracking at unprecedented levels, which is likely to continue with strong buyer demand confronting fewer choices as new listings growth declines,” said Dr Wilson in a statement.

“Sydney reported a record weekend clearance rate of 90.0 per cent on Saturday, which was higher than the previous weekend’s 87.3 per cent result and the 85.8 per cent reported over the same weekend last year,” Dr Wilson said, referencing Auction Insider data.

While Sydney’s median price for houses sold at auction stood at $1,645,000, slightly below the previous weekend’s $1,692,500, it surpassed last year’s result by 14.2 per cent.

Moreover, Sydney’s Central Coast, North West, Northern Beaches and Upper North Shore were the top weekend auction regions, all recording clearance rates above 90 per cent. The lowest clearance rate reported was the West with a nonetheless booming 82.1 per cent result.

The clearance rate for units was slightly below that reported for houses at 88.9 per cent.

As for the top reported Sydney auction sale at the weekend, that title went to a five-bedroom home at 22 Wunda Rd Mosman that realised $7,350,000.

The luxury “Hamptons-inspired home” sold $1.6 million above the guide price of $5.8 million.