Auction clearance rate heading towards 80pc range

Housing economist Dr Andrew Wilson at My Housing Market has suggested that Sydney and Melbourne auction clearance rates could be heading into the 80 per cent range.

Housing economist Dr Andrew Wilson at My Housing Market has suggested that Sydney and Melbourne auction clearance rates could be heading into the 80 per cent range.

His prediction comes after the national auction success rates firmed to the highest level since February last year, despite a pick up in stock levels.

The national success rate has sat above 70 per cent for a third week, with 75 per cent of auctions finding buyers. It was at 61 per cent this time last year.

The buoyant result came after auction activity increased 13 per cent last week, with more than 1900 auctions across the capitals, higher than the 1672 this time last year.

Of the 605 Sydney weekend auction results collected so far by CoreLogic, 78.2 per cent were successful, the highest rate across the capitals.

“This marks 10 consecutive weeks where the preliminary clearance rate has held above 70 per cent,” CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless said. “It looks like selling conditions are consistently improving,” Lawless said.

Last week’s 762 auctions across Sydney was up 17 per cent on the prior week, and well above the 532 in the same week last year when there was a 58 per cent success rate.

Melbourne hosted 834 auctions last week, with 696 auction results collected so far, putting its preliminary clearance rate above 70 per cent for the sixth consecutive week at 74 per cent. It was 62 per cent this time last year.

Knockdown price

The nation’s top sale was on the Sydney inner west waterfront at Cabarita, where $8.35m was paid on auction eve for a knockdown.

This three-bedroom home on Collingwood Avenue, Cabarita, sold for $8.35m and is destined for demolition.

The three-bedroom, one-level property at 9 Collingwood Ave sold to a family intending to build a new home after renting it out for a few years.

Set on Hen & Chicken Bay, the home was sold through Horwood Nolan agent Ben Horwood. It had been in the same family for 53 years.

It last sold for $15,000 through two purchases in 1970 by truck driver Gordon Waller and his wife Shirley.

Top price

The nation’s priciest weekend auction listing failed to sell. The modern Bronte home had been listed through Alexander Phillips at PPD with initial $12m hopes, which were lifted to $13m.

The four-bedroom, three bathroom Gardyne St home with Jillian Dinkel interior decor sits on 461sq m. It was designed by Smyth & Smyth and Maryanne Taskovski Architects.

Phillips described the home as “absolutely awesome – it’s the light, the view, the aspect.”

The Kalaf family had paid $5.05m in 2016.

Phillips was last week officially crowned as Australia’s top-selling agent for the eighth consecutive year on the REB Top 100 list, after 214 sales totalling $865m during 2022, averaging $4.04m a sale.

Phillips’ latest tally was down on his $1.07bn from 267 sales in boomtime 2021.

Phillips assumed the top spot in 2016 with 164 sales totalling $351m, averaging $2.1m a sale. He took the mantle from Marshall White Boroondara agent James Tostevin who’d held the crown for the three prior years.

Phillip entered the list in second place in 2014 with 108 sales totalling $200m at a $1.8m average, knocking out Melbourne agent Marcus Chiminello who’d typically run second to Tostevin.

The REB list began in 2013, when Tostevin had 144 sales totalling $203m, at a $1.4m average.

Neither Tostevin and Chiminello appear on the REB list anymore, with listing sites giving an unofficial insight into Tostevin’s annual sale numbers, which sit around 80 properties at a $3.3m average for a $144m total sales tally.

Chiminello has sold 30 or so properties in the past 12 months, with an average price of $6.6m, with just one by auction. The data, which does not include off-market sales, shows his private treaty offerings were on the market for an average of 110 days.

Saturday saw Tostevin sell his latest listing, a 1920s house at 187 Cotham Rd, Kew, having given $2.9m to $3.15m guidance. There were three bidders before it sold for $3.036m. It had last sold at $65,500 in 1975.

It’s just around the corner from Tostevin’s $16m sale last May of historic Prague House on Sackville St, Kew to a Macau-born buyer, having listed the 1880s trophy home with a $16.5m to $17.5m price guide.

Chiminello currently has $22m hopes for an off-market Sackville St offering.

$5.2m for Belyea

Melbourne’s top weekend sale was in Canterbury where Belyea, the five-bedroom, three-bathroom house at 3 Wentworth Ave, sold for $5.2m through Geordie Dixon at Jellis Craig.

With $4.65m to $4.95m guidance, it was announced on the market at $4.85m. There were four bidders. It last sold at $900,000 in 2001.

“The market is strengthening, but the results are volatile,” buyers’ agent Mal James advised. He said stock levels were “low and not increasing”. He calculated the Boroondara weekend success rate at 94 per cent, up from the prior week’s 88 per cent clearance rate.

James noted the lack of private school places for students of Asian background, saying the market was “at bursting point” in Melbourne’s inner east, which could boost buying bayside.

His comments come as Australia has jumped from third to first for Chinese buyers inquiring about overseas real estate, according to the Asian real estate website Juwai. Search inquiries for Australian properties from China jumped 127 per cent in the first quarter, up from the final quarter of 2022. “Eighty per cent of our buyers at high-end (properties) open for inspections are mainland Chinese,” Jamie Mi, head of international at Kay & Burton, told The South China Morning Post last week.

Adelaide in the clear

Across the smaller capital cities, Adelaide recorded the strongest preliminary clearance rate, with 78 per cent of auctions reporting a successful result, followed by Canberra at 77 per cent and Brisbane at 63 per cent.

Brisbane’s top sale was $1.91m for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at Hendra, which sold under executors’ instructions through Ray White agents Chrese Morley and Keith Mahon to a buyer from Sydney who had been renting nearby for the past six months. The 2011-built property, which attracted eight registered bidders, had decor by interior designer Anna Spiro. The 592sq m Bowley St property had last sold at $1,235,000 in 2016.

In Perth, seven of the 13 results collected so far were successful, but the prices can still be problematic for vendors.

The five-bedroom, four-bathroom 1970s house at 8 Dilkara Way, City Beach fetched $2.3m after four of the six registered bidders competed at its Ray White auction. The home with ocean views had sold at $2.41m in May last year.

The 1970s house on Dilkara Way, City Beach, fetched $2.3m.

Positive momentum

PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty says the number of homes going to auction has picked up in recent weeks, despite the quieter winter period approaching.

Last week had 1992 homes auctioned, with 2235 properties scheduled for this week, which includes the final weekend of the autumn selling season.

“Supporting the uptick in scheduled auctions has been improved selling conditions which have resulted in four consecutive months of price growth, improved clearance rates and a boost in vendor confidence,” Flaherty said.

Prestige sale

Sydney’s latest prestige sale came on Sunday afternoon with the Bellevue Hill estate of the late property developer Tom Breuer and his late wife, art dealer Eva, finding a $33m buyer. The early 1980s six-bedroom Dino Burattini-designed Victoria Rd home sold through Highland Double Bay agent Bill Malouf, in conjunction with Pillinger Real Estate.