Are property auctions a thing of the past?
With auction clearance rates around Australia at a low point, I know some commentators are suggesting it’s not worth taking your property to auction any more
I don’t agree.
On the weekend we purchased a great villa unit at auction for a client – a true investment grade property which was hotly contested by 2 owner occupiers and 2 investors.
“A grade homes” and investment grade properties are still holding their values and selling well at auction.
So some properties are still the type that I would auction if I were selling my property.
However according to CoreLogic’s Quarterly Auction Market Review, fewer properties are being auctioned.
Over the 3 months to September 2018, 20,653 homes were taken to auction across the combined capital cities.
Clearance rates fell below 50 per cent across 10 of the 15 Sydney sub-regions over the September quarter.
The largest quarterly fall was seen across Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury (-15 per cent), followed by Ryde (-12 per cent).
The strongest clearance rate was recorded across the Eastern Suburbs where 60.8 per cent of the 981 auctions were successful, while the lowest clearance rate was recorded at just 33.8 per cent across 246 auctions.
Auction volumes were lower across all 15 sub-regions when compared to both the previous quarter and the same time last year, with the busiest sub-region being North Sydney and Hornsby (1,215 auctions), and the quietest sub-region being Outer West and Blue Mountains (77 auctions).
When looking at the September 2017 quarter, clearance rates were stronger across all 15 regions with 4 sub-regions falling by at least 20 per cent year-on year (Inner South West, Central Coast, Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury and Blacktown).
Overall Sydney is tracking lower year-on-year for both auction volumes and clearance rates with the September quarter recording a success rate of 50.9 per cent across 7,497 auctions, down from 66.8 per cent across 10,575 auctions over the same quarter last year.
Suburb results.
Includes suburbs where at least 20 auction results were reported over the three month period noting that clearance rates are calculated based on total auction results collected rather than total auctions held.
