Auction heat remains in Strathfield result despite winter's onset

The weather failed to inflict much damage on the east coast residential sales success despite the hazardous first auction weekend of winter.

Sydney’s clearance rate rose from 73 percent last week to 76 per cent, according to the preliminary CoreLogic RP Data tally. The Domain data even suggested it bettered 80 percent.

Auction prices across Sydney ranged between $348,000 in Canley Vale and $5.7 million in Strathfield.

It was a contemporary Strathfield home with the most modern of fireplaces featured in the living room at 20 Llandilo Avenue, Strathfield.

There were four bidders - from among the 12 registered parties - after the opening $4.5 million offer at the auction by Strathfield Partners agent Hawre Ahmad.

The Sydney auctioneer Damien Cooley noted that while fewer attendees come to onsite auctions when the weather isn’t friendly, the percentage of serious bidders among the attendees actually increases.

"You know you have a keen buyer if they are turning up to your auction," Damien Cooley said on the turn in the weather. 

There was a similiar tick-up trend, with the reduced early winter offerings, in Brisbane where vendors fared well too despite rising flood waters.

Brisbane’s clearance rate rose from 41 percent last week to 55 percent.

Melbourne's success rate held steady at 71 percent with prices ranging between $240,000 in Braybrook and $5.1 million in East Melbourne.

Around 959 residential properties were taken to auction in Melbourne down on the 1,170 auctions in the prior week as the winter slowdown commences.

Lower winter market listings will become even more noticeable from the Queen’s Birthday holiday break. 

The winter property auction hibernation doesn't necessarily happen across all Sydney suburbs, according to CoreLogic RP Data statistics.

Since 2011 Sydney auction volumes have jumped over the three month winter season from around 5000 offerings to 11,000 listings.

The forthcoming federal election might distract some potential vendors but recent July auction volumes have been Sydney’s busiest on record.

Auction hibernation continues to happen more so in Sydney's higher-priced suburbs through winter as overseas vacations are popular with owners and agents alike.

Garden suburb vendors also tend to hold back too until spring.

"June and July usually see’s the average number of buyers taper off, and this was certainly evident in the first weekend of June," auctioneer Rocky Bartolotto said.

"Give the very wet day, it’s fair to say that any buyers at auctions were no doubt very serious about securing a property," he added.

He advised certain Sydney properties continued to attract high inspections usually matched with a higher number of registered buyers.

The average was four bidders, Bartolotto noted, down from six to seven buyers last June.

But the recent strong autumn sales period must ensure there are still plenty of committed buyers around as we head into winter, James Pratt, director of auction services at Raine & Horne said.

Estate agent John McGrath also recently suggested that winter was not a bad time to sell.

"Actually, the opposite is usually true," he said especially as buyers with approved finance are typically only given six months to buy before they have to re-apply, so they don’t have time to take three months off over winter.

Some lenders are imposing tougher new borrowing conditions that reduce the amount property buyers qualify for as the six months comes up, according to Mortgage Choice, the listed broker.

Conditions used to assess a property loan are being tightened so that living expenses are increased, assessable incomes reduced and the maximum amount borrowed cut in some cases by more than 10 percent, the brokerage told Fairfax Media. 

It cited an example of a couple six months ago earning net income of about $116,000 could have qualified for a loan of about $1.1 million, according to Mortgage Choice analysis.

Under the new rules they would qualify for about $70,000 less, although during this period variable rates have been reduced by up to 25 basis points.