Weekend auction wrap: Where the hammer fell

Weekend auction wrap: Where the hammer fell
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 8, 2020

Prices continue to ease across all capital cities, but as September hasn’t been swamped with fresh listings the early spring market appears set for a steady as she goes scenario. It will be late spring when the resilience of the market faces its biggest test.

Melbourne's median house prices stood at $551,056 over the July quarter, according to Australian Property Monitors data.

It indicated that median housing prices in the Melbourne market remain subdued as it represented a 0.9% fall from the $555,958 recorded in the April quarter.

“It nonetheless recorded the smallest quarterly fall of all the capital cities,” Dr Andrew Wilson, senior economist for Australian Property Monitors, says.

Perth and Brisbane continue to be the worst-performing capitals with their median house prices down by 2.7% and 2.1% respectively. They were followed by Adelaide and Darwin, down by 1.9%, Hobart and Canberra, down by 1.5%, and Sydney where the median house price fell by 1.1%.

Sydney's median house price fell from $646,806 over the April quarter this year to $639,484 over the July quarter.

Melbourne's median house price has fallen by 2.9% over the year to July compared with Sydney, where median house prices are down by just 0.6%. 

“This is good for stability and confidence, considering prices rose 20% in the 18 months from January 2009 to June 2010.

"Sydney has recorded the best outcome among capital cities through the market's recent corrective phase brought on by rising interest rates and house prices that put pressure on affordability in most centres,” Wilson notes.

Melbourne’s clearance rate slipped from its revised 57% on the July 20/21 weekend, according Enzo Raimondo at the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. There were a total of 525 auctions on the weekend, of which 289 sold and 236 were passed in, 164 of those on a vendor's bid.

 


 

Sydney’s clearance rate slipped from its revised 57% on the July 20/21 weekend, according to Andrew Wilson at Australian Property Monitors.

 


 

For the first weekend of spring the REIV is expecting only a slight boost in Melbourne auction numbers over last weekend, to 530.

 


 

The number of auctions expected to be held in Sydney next weekend.  APM research analyst Clinton McNabb says this is slightly down on the 362 listings over the last weekend.

 


 

Sydney’s most expensive property to go under the was a two-bedroom 1950s house in Gladesville through Ray White agent Robert Cassidy. It last sold at $1.67 million in 1999, reflecting 5.5% annual growth. It had been recently in the rental pool at around $850 a week.

 


 

Lethbridge Park offered Sydney’s cheapest auction sale, according to APM. It was a four-bedroom house that last sold in 1998 at $87,000, reflecting 7.8% annual growth. It had been recently in the rental pool at $260 a week. It sold through Richardson & Wrench Rooty Hill agents Colin Mackenzie and Roy Amery.

 


 

Adelaide’s top weekend sale was a three-bedroom house at Netherby. It sold through Klermich Real Estate Kent Town agent Steve Alexander. The house set on a  1393-square-metre block had been listed with an  $895,000 to $945,000 pre-auction price estimate.

 


 

Brisbane’s cheapest sale was a three-bedroom house sold through the Professionals Redland Bay agent Denise Cusack. Its been for sale since last September when it had a $329,000 asking price. It last sold for $147,000 in 2002, reflecting 5.9% annual growth.

 


 

The country’s dearest house price was on a beachfront reserve house on Kent Avenue, Brighton, in Victoria. It had been passed in at $6.35 million despite having four bidders with two bidders above the $6 million mark when auctioned by Buxton Brighton agent Brian Devlin and Regina Schmidt. The 665-square-metre three-level Art Deco residence on  665 square metres has two bathrooms, powder room, living/dining area, family room, rooftop deck, pool and garage.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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