Sydney over it, but Melbourne set for record pre-Christmas auction offerings
Melbourne has a record pre-Christmas Saturday auction next weekend with more than 730 scheduled auctions.
Fairfax Domain senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson told Fairfax Media Melbourne was going to finish the year with a lot of confidence while Sydney buyers were "just over it".
"Melbourne will have a pre-Christmas bonanza – it is a record Saturday before Christmas and I think that really does capture the divergence between the two cities."
Dr Wilson suggested the Sydney clearance rate had stabilised with volumes well down from last year.
"It's a sign it has stopped the precipitous fall."
"Although clearance rates have fallen sharply over spring, consistent results over the past month with rates averaging 57.9% indicate a consolidation of market activity.
"This will provide some relief for sellers and a platform for a rebound in confidence next year," he blogged.
Evident again on the weekend of the continuing stark disparity between higher and lower-priced regional results across Sydney as outer suburban lower-priced markets to the west have been clear underperformers in the Sydney spring market shakeout – an outcome Dr Wilson suggested had been influenced by higher interest rates for residential investors.
The city and east recorded the highest regional clearance rate at 72.7% followed by the northern beaches at 70.6%, the inner west with 68.8 per cent, and the lower north at 65.1 per cent at weekend auction.
The overall 58.1% Sydney clearance rate was just above last weekend’s year-low result of 57.5%bbut well below the 75% recorded over the same weekend last year.
Auction listings have faded over recent weekends following record levels of activity over spring. The 733 auctions listed on Saturday was well below the previous weekend’s 882 and also significantly below the 998 recorded over the same weekend last year.
Next weekend more than 300 homes are scheduled for auction in Sydney which Dr Wilson said nonetheless presented another challenge to the market just six days before Christmas.
Source APM