Auctions strong despite floods in Queensland and NSW

Auction clearance rates have held “reasonably firm” in Brisbane and Sydney, proving buyers remain undaunted by recent flooding across Queensland and NSW.

A NSW home is sold by auctioneer Jason Keene for $1.662M. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Auction clearance rates have remained “relatively strong” across the nation’s capital cities, as househunters in Sydney and Brisbane shrugged off fears they would be deterred by the recent flood disaster.

Some 2090 properties went under the hammer at the weekend – down from 2979 the week before – with a preliminary clearance rate of 72.2 per cent, according to data from CoreLogic.

Clearance rates have remained stable in Sydney, with 1028 homes going to auction on the weekend with a clearance rate of 70.4 per cent.

In Melbourne, just 606 auctions were listed over the Labour Day long weekend, with a clearance rate of 71.9 per cent. This was down from 1452 properties that went to auction the weekend before.

CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said markets had remained relatively strong, despite fears of a downturn in Brisbane and Sydney due to the recent floods.

Auction withdrawal rates rose only moderately to 16 per cent in both cities this week.

“I had expected larger numbers of properties to be withdrawn due to floods but it seems like vendors are remaining reasonably confident,” he said.

This weekend’s results suggest a slight cooling in the market, after last week’s preliminary result of 72.7 per cent was revised down to 69.2 per cent at final figures, marking the first time in five consecutive weeks that rates had dropped below 70 per cent.

Brisbane was the busiest of the smaller capitals in terms of volume this week, with 189 homes taken to auction across the city and a clearance rate of 68.1 per cent.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said that clearance rates were still “pretty high” despite uncertainty about how the floods would affect confidence in the market.

“We’re not seeing the same negativity from the last Queensland flooding in 2011,” Ms Conisbee said.

“The flooding is different, it’s not flooding because of problems with infrastructure. It’s not anywhere near the impacts of what we thought it would be.

“We’re seeing that buyers are looking through what’s happening, and buying accordingly.”

Canberra recorded the nation’s highest preliminary auction clearance rate at 87.5 per cent. Meanwhile, Adelaide recorded a clearance rate of 77.9 per cent out of 160 properties that were up for sale. In Perth, eight results collected so far all reported a successful result.

This week’s overall clearance rate marks a downturn from a year ago, when 77.6 per cent of reported auctions were successful as the market cools.