Low numbers show ‘quieter start’ to spring

THE spring house selling season has had its worst beginning since the pandemic year of 2020, according to property data group Cotality.

Last week, 1781 auctions were held nationally, which was 31.2 per cent fewer than a year ago.

“Challenging selling conditions have weighed on vendor activity this spring, with auction volumes over the first six weeks of the season below the same period last year,” Cotality said.

“You would have to go back to 2020, when pandemic lockdowns were in full swing, to find a quieter start to the season.”

For the second consecutive week, the combined capitals preliminary clearance rate held below 50 per cent.

The result of 48.8 per cent was a slight increase on 48.2 per cent the previous week and similar to results through mid-to-late June, when the preliminary clearance rate fell as low as 47.4 per cent.

Cotality said the preliminary clearance rate in Melbourne rose to 54.8 per cent last week, up 4.2 percentage points from 50.6 per cent the previous week.

Melbourne also held more auctions than any other capital city, with 707 homes going to auction. This was a 6.2 per cent increase on the previous week, although auction volumes remained 43.4 per cent lower than the same week last year.

“Melbourne’s auction volumes are set to fall sharply this week, down approximately 34 per cent on last week, as the first auctions subject to Victoria’s new reserve price disclosure requirements take place,” Cotality said.

“It’s too early to tell whether the new laws are influencing seller behaviour. The timing suggests some vendors may have brought campaigns forward or delayed auction decisions as the industry adjusts to the new rules.”

Following a long weekend that reduced activity the previous week, Sydney’s auction volumes increased by 118 per cent to 653 homes.

Compared to the same period last year, auction volumes across the city declined by 33.9 per cent.

The preliminary clearance rate decreased by 2.8 percentage points to 52.9 per cent, marking the lowest result in 10 weeks.

In Brisbane, auction volumes increased substantially, with 201 homes brought to market, Cotality said.

This total was 45.7 per cent higher than the previous week, which included a long weekend, and 58.3 per cent higher than the same week last year.

Only 21.4 per cent of these auctions resulted in a successful sale, reducing Brisbane’s preliminary clearance rate to its lowest level since April 2020, during the initial phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Across Adelaide, the preliminary clearance rate rose to 46.8 per cent, from 41.5 per cent the previous week.

Twice as many auctions were held as the week before, 140 compared with 70, and auction volumes were 45.8 per cent higher than a year ago.

Last week, 66 auctions were held across the ACT, 127.6 per cent more than the week prior but 37.7 per cent down on the same week last year.

Of these, 36.4 per cent had reported a successful result at the time of the preliminary count, the second-lowest preliminary clearance rate this year.

This week Cotality is expecting around 1500 auctions to be held, roughly 15 per cent fewer than last week.

Sydney is the only market where the number of scheduled auctions is higher, up approximately eight pert cent.