Sydney auction success rate slumps into the 50s: APM
Saturday's initial Sydney-wide clearance rate fell to 59%, down on the 63% preliminary tally from last Saturday, which was revised to 58% after late result notifications to Australian Property Monitors.
“The market has crashed below 60 per cent with no sign of bottoming out,” the rather excitable Domain Group senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson told Domain after Saturday night headline initial clearance rates dropped below 60 per cent for the first time in three years.
He noted most capital city housing markets continue to weaken with auction clearance rates in Sydney now well down on the record high rates of autumn and the Melbourne auction market also notably fading. House price growth rates in Melbourne and Sydney fell sharply over the September quarter and will likely follow auction clearance rates downwards for the remainder of the year.
The top sale was a six-bedroom residence at 1 Elfrida Street, Mosman, for $5,375,000 through Simeon Manners who withdrew another Mosman offering due to lack of buyer interest. Selling agent Richard Simeon told the Sunday Telegraph the Elfrida Street vendors had actually raised their reserve price prior to auction. The marketing price campaign was pitched as selling in the "mid $5 millions." It traded at $3.7 million in 2004.
There were 1011 auctions scheduled for Saturday and with 652 results reported and 112 withdrawn. The number of Saturday night unreported sales increases dramatically whenever the market numbers jump and the market softens.
