Potential market tipping point reached in SE QLD

A spike in the south-east Queensland auction clearance rate up to 80% has auctioneer Jason Andrews questioning whether the market has reached a tipping point.

Up last week to 80%, from 52% in August, it's currently unclear whether the result is an anomaly or a market of the game changing, Andrews said.

This comes as Brisbane has recently been tipped for growth both in a Property Observer poll and by property buying experts.

“There was a completely different energy at last week’s auctions over a broad variety of price segments and geographical locations, with tangible buyer confidence and willing sellers,” Andrew said. “We saw several top-end properties sell for significantly over reserve as well as acreage property, a segment that was previously challenged for some time.” 

With the average number of bidder registrations up significantly, rising to 5.2 last week from 1.6 in August, crowd numbers were also high up to 44 from 18 per auction, he said.

This may mean that competition is heating up significantly for investors looking to achieve bargains. “There was also a sharp increase in vendor motivation for the week, with 80% of vendors describing themselves as highly motivated, up from 47% in August," he said. 

“These results are in stark contradiction to the trends we’ve seen throughout the year with subdued buyer activity has and a high proportion of vendors unwilling to meet the market.”

Next week will be telling if the results continue.