Daily Telegraph Real Estate auction blog: rolling updates from the property market

A rush to sell before Xmas has driven a frenzy of auction sales across Sydney, but the cooling market delivered surprises for both sellers and buyers this weekend.

Auctioneer Michael Garofolo at a recent auction in Ermington. Picture: Julian Andrews

Welcome to The Daily Telegraph’s auction coverage.

Sydney had its biggest week of auction activity in seven years as homeowners raced to sell before Christmas and agents tried to offload a backlog of listings from the Covid lockdown.

Close to 1900 properties were scheduled to go under the hammer this week, the highest volume of weekly sales since 2014 and an unusually high number of sales for this late into the year.

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Nationally, it was the biggest auction week since CoreLogic records began in 2008.

It’s followed what’s been a busy spring selling season across Sydney, with the end of lockdown restrictions in October releasing a flood of new listings into the market.

The greater choice of available housing has helped moderate prices and auction clearance rates have slumped.

The success rate of auctions last week was a year-low of 63 per cent, roughly in line with the long-term average for Sydney auctions, but well below the 90 per cent clearance rate recorded earlier this year.

Agents reported many of the homes passing in at auction tended to be on main roads or were properties with shortcomings. Others were properties where the vendors set their reserves too high.

Houses that “ticked all the boxes” were selling well, along with properties offering scope for future development. Derelict houses within densely populated inner city areas have remained particularly popular in recent weeks, despite the major repairs needed.

Originally published as Daily Telegraph Real Estate auction blog: rolling updates from the property market