Auction records tumble
AUSTRALIAN homeowners are racing to take advantage of soaring property prices with auction levels set to surpass alltime highs this week.
The volume of scheduled auctions is set to surpass 4000 for the first time ever in Australia, making it the busiest auction week for the combined capitals since CoreLogic records commenced in 2008.
CoreLogic reported there were 4354 capital city homes due to go under the hammer and was expected to overtake the week ending March 25, 2018 (3990) as the busiest auction week on record.
Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide will all reach new highs this weekend as sellers look to capitalise on strong market conditions ahead of price falls likely to occur as soon as the middle of 2022.
Covid-19 lockdowns combined with a seasonal fall in volume resulted in the number of auctions falling through July and August, before hitting a recent floor in early September, when 1423 homes were taken to auction.
Since then the number of auctions held has risen about 10 per cent a week, to record a total increase of more than 200 per cent.
The high number of properties going under the hammer has started to cool the heated competition seen between buyers for the most part of 2021, which has resulted in falling clearance rates.
The clearance rate dropped to 70.3 per cent last week after it reached a peak of 83.2 per cent in early October.
Sydney, traditionally Australia’s strongest market, saw its clearance rate drop to 68.7 per cent last week — its lowest all year.
CoreLogic research analyst Kaytlin Ezzy said Melbourne was scheduled to hold the most auctions this week with 1898 homes set to go under the hammer — 14.5 per cent more than last week.
Across Sydney, 1656 auctions were scheduled, making it Sydney’s busiest auction week on record.
Across the smaller capital cities, both Adelaide and Canberra were set to overtake last week to again record their highest ever auction volumes, with 308 and 183 auctions scheduled respectively.
Perth was expecting its busiest week of the year with 47 auctions scheduled, while Brisbane was set to host 260 auctions.
Two homes were scheduled to go to auction across Tasmania this week.
National house prices have increased nearly 22 per cent during 2021 to $686,339, according to CoreLogic.
The CBA forecasted that average house prices would peak in late 2022 before falling by about 10 per cent in 2023. Last week ANZ economists forecast national average house price growth would slow in 2022 before a slight fall of about 4 per cent in 2023.