Sydney’s auction market is heating up amid slump in listings activity

Home sellers have been netting some of the biggest results in nearly two years at Sydney home auctions due to a shrinking supply of property listings.

Auctioneer Damien Cooley said sellers were getting better results at auction.

Competition for properties in Sydney’s auction market has turned red hot as declining listing numbers and surging buyer demand create a pressure cooker sales environment.

Only about 250 properties are set to go under the hammer today, almost a quarter fewer than at this time last year and a similar number to the last three weekends when clearance rates shot to over 70 per cent.

The clearance rate last week was particularly high at nearly 73 per cent — a year-high and well above the 55 per cent success rate for auctions recorded over much of March, April and May, CoreLogic data showed.

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Agents forecasted a similar success rate for auctions this weekend, which would stretch the current purple patch to the longest run of strong selling activity since the market boomed in early 2017.

Homes going to auction have tended to sell for higher prices than private treaty sales.

Driving the improved results was a growing reluctance from homeowners to list and a spike in buyer activity since the Coalition’s surprise victory in the federal election.

This effect was most apparent in areas dominated by single-level detached housing, including the Sutherland Shire, where the local clearance rate was 90 per cent last week, and the northern beaches where 85 per cent of auctions cleared.

Top auctioneer Damien Cooley said the recent drop in listings forced buyers into bidding wars for the properties they liked, helping sellers net prices well above reserve.

“There are no opportunistic sellers in this market because it has been favouring buyers for so long,” he said.

“The only people selling are those who have to, either for divorce, moving for work or other reasons, so buyers don’t have as much choice anymore. More people are now registering at auction and bidding is getting much stronger.”

CoreLogic auction analyst Kevin Brogan said homeowners who listed in the current market would have an advantage because most other would-be sellers were holding off listing until spring.

“Auction volumes tend to be low in winter, but they are unusually low at the moment even when you factor in the season,” Mr Brogan said. “There has also been a pronounced increase in buyers so it may be a good time to be selling.”

CLEARANCE RATES

Sutherland Shire 90%

Northern beaches 87%

Parramatta 84%

Canterbury-Bankstown 83%

North shore 79%

*Greater Sydney 73%

Originally published as Sydney’s auction market is heating up amid slump in listings activity