Auction numbers hit May high as market booms

Tuesday’s budget is likely to stoke ‘unstoppable appetite’ and give hot market conditions a second wind.

Fears rising number of homes being offered to the market would cause auction figures to drop have been unfounded. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

Auction numbers climbed past 3000 last week ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget, which is ­likely to give the hot market conditions a second wind buoyed by an expected slew of housing ­announcements.

Preliminary clearance rate dipped slightly to 78.6 per cent nat­ionally through the second busiest week of auctions for the year, data from property researcher CoreLogic found after collecting 85 per cent of results from the 3033 auctions held.

Melbourne was the busiest market, achieving a preliminary clearance rate of 76.5 per cent from 1420 properties. The proportion of homes sold in Sydney was higher, with auctioneers selling 82.6 per cent of the 1157 put under the hammer.

Archistar chief economist ­Andrew Wilson said the pre-budget surge showed home sellers had continued to take advantage of seemingly unstoppable buyer appetite for property.

“Despite high auction numbers, clearance rates in all capitals remained clearly at boomtime levels, although rates have eased marginally from the record-breaking March results,” Dr Wilson said. “And again, the surge in auction numbers failed to dent clearance rates.

“Auction markets will be further advantaged with the federal budget set to announce more significant stimulus policies aimed directly at housing demand — notably first-home buyers increasingly marginalised by sky­rocket­ing prices and rising competition from investors.”

Saturday marked a May record of 2563 auctions held across the capital cities on Saturday, an increase of 12.1 per cent over the previous weekend and falling short only of the pre-Easter Super ­Saturday.

 

Results held strong across the smaller capital cities, led by Canberra, which achieved 85.5 per cent preliminary clearance from 93 properties.

Adelaide reported 77 per cent of the 137 homes on offer sold, with similar levels recorded in Brisbane (72 per cent from 196 properties). Fewer than half (47.8 per cent) of the 28 homes auctioned in Perth were reported sold by Sunday morning.

Earlier fears that the rising number of homes being offered to the market would cause auction figures to drop have been unfounded, said Ray White’s NSW chief auctioneer Alex Pattaro, adding that there was no sign of a slow down ahead of winter.

“Good family homes in desirable areas are selling well, and family buyers continue to dominate the market,” Mr Pattaro said.

“We’re hearing of more buyers venturing further out of Sydney to find … prices within budgets.”

Clearance rates were notably higher for houses compared to apartments, reflecting broader trends. Preliminary results showed 80.9 per cent of houses sold under the hammer, compared to 71.1 per cent of units.

Last week’s preliminary clearance rate of 80.4 per cent was revised down to 77.7 per cent from 2902 auctions.