Sydney real estate auctions live: Sydney braces for interest rate ‘litmus test’

Sydney’s property market faces its first real test of the year on what will be the biggest day of auction activity so far. Watch the replays of this weekend’s sales

Sydney’s auction market has been reinvigorated in 2023 with a surge of home seekers attending property inspections at a time of low housing supply.

Sydney’s auction market has been reinvigorated in 2023 with a surge of home seekers attending property inspections at a time of low housing supply.

With many would-be sellers watching how the market will play out this year before listing, the increase in demand and low supply of available housing has property experts tipping a strong start to the year for the few auctions that are going ahead.

PropTrack data shows there are 385 properties going to auction in Sydney this weekend, up 13 per cent from the same week last year.

And while the first weekend of high activity following the festive season comes potentially days before the first interest rate hike of the year, a number of properties across Sydney have agents and auctioneers excited.

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PropTrack economist Paul Ryan said this weekend would be a litmus test for the market – and that so far, signs were positive.

“We’re in this position where we are waiting to see the market reopen,” he said.

“Broadly speaking this looks like a solid start to the year for market activity.”

Properties typically go to auction after a four week campaign, meaning this weekend’s auctions were the first properties to be listed in the new year.

“This is probably the first weekend where lots of people will start to consider auctioning,” he said.

While the interest rate shock of last year could see some buyers and sellers feeling uncertain, improved sentiment around how much higher rates will go could lessen the fear.

“A lot of the reporting around interest rates has been about the fact that interest rate expectations are lower than they were at the end of last year, so perhaps there are fewer interest rate rises to come in 2023,” he said.

Ray White NSW chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro said buyer activity had “significantly improved” since the end of last year while auction volumes remained relatively low.

“There is some really positive news for sellers,” Mr Pattaro said.

“There is a shortage of properties in the market and people are just looking to move on and buy.”

“The number of inspection attendees has nearly doubled.”

Talk of more interest rate hikes is again affecting the Sydney property market. Picture: Phoenix Naman

He said many sellers were holding off on listing until they had better certainty around buyer appetite and price – both of which were already showing signs of improvement.

“I think we’ve reached a point in the market where buyers know what to expect,” he said.

“They know there is going to be a handful of further interest rate rises and they have factored that in with their borrowing capacity.”

“The fear of the market continuing to go down has gone out. It has gone down and now it’s kind of onwards and upwards as the general sentiment.”

He said pricing was already starting to improve in markets such as Quakers Hill, certain pockets of Liverpool and some suburbs in the inner west.

“If sellers are looking for a particular price, they should come to market because stock levels are low and the buyer pool is high. That means better prices,” he said.