Busy week for auctions despite Covid case surge

Economic uncertainty has done little to deter buyers, with almost two thirds of properties on offer selling in the busiest week since April.

Auctioneer Nick Boyd sells off 1 Bank Lane in North Sydney on Sunday. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Economic uncertainty has done little to deter home buyers, with almost two-thirds of properties on the auction block selling in the busiest week since April.

The preliminary percentage of properties sold held steady at 64.5 per cent last week as the number of sellers testing the market rose by 189 to 1424, property researcher CoreLogic said.

Melbourne reported a preliminary auction clearance rate of 62.7 per cent despite many of the 623 homes on offer converting from onsite to online at the last minute to accommodate the rise in COVID-19 case numbers.

Sydney’s clearance rate pulled back slightly from the previous week, with 66.9 per cent of the 614 properties selling.

The preliminary clearance rates are likely to be revised down over the coming days, with 899 of the 1424 auctions last week being reported to CoreLogic by Sunday morning.

My Housing Market chief economist Andrew Wilson said high levels of withdrawals were likely skewing results as they were included in the results as non-sales in the reported figures

“I think the number reflects movement towards a new online hybrid auction model which is diluting the market,” he said.

Canberra’s run continued with a preliminary rate of 88.5 per cent from 34 auctions, while the smaller markets of Adelaide (76 per cent from 46 properties) and Perth (71.4 per cent from 17 properties) also recorded high figures. Brisbane results dipped to 47.6 per cent from 84 homes.