Buyers return to the market in numbers, prompted by rate freeze

Capital city clearance rates are picking up as low borrowing costs are touted to stick around for another few years, with all cities recording rates of above 70 per cent in the week ending 7 February.

According to the latest CoreLogic Property Market Indicator Summary, 1,287 homes were taken to auction across the combined capital cities last week, which resulted in a preliminary auction clearance rate of 83.8 per cent. This means that over four in five homes, country-wide, sold last week, after the Reserve Bank reaffirmed the record low 0.1 per cent interest rate and hinted that it could stick around until at least 2024.

Canberra and Sydney recorded the highest clearance rates of 92.7 per cent and 89.1 per cent from a total of 59 and 449 homes auctioned, respectively.

The frontrunners were followed by Adelaide with a clearance rate of 82.8 per cent out of 85 total auctions, Melbourne with 80.8 per cent out of 592 total auctions, Perth with 75 per cent out of 17 total auctions and lastly Brisbane with 74.6 per cent out of 84 total auctions.

“Such strong auction results signal further upwards pressure on housing prices amidst extremely tight advertised supply levels and above average buyer demand,” CoreLogic noted.

Over the same week last year, auction volumes stood at 1,167 homes nationally, with a final auction clearance rate of just 67.7 per cent.

Home values

Looking at the weekly change in home values, CoreLogic pointed to a 0.3 per cent growth in combined capital city values last week, with Sydney, Brisbane and Perth leading the charge with a 0.3 per cent rise. Meanwhile, Melbourne and Adelaide saw a 0.2 per cent increase.

Month-on-month data saw Perth and Brisbane emerged as the winners, with home value growth sitting at 1.6 per cent and 1.0 per cent, respectively. Following them were Adelaide (0.9 per cent), Sydney (0.8 per cent) and Melbourne (0.6 per cent).

In terms of year-to-date changes, Perth remained in the lead with a 1.9 per cent increase in home values, followed by Brisbane with 1.2 per cent and Adelaide with 1.1 per cent. Sydney and Melbourne recorded 0.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent increase, respectively.

Over the most recent four-week period, Sydney and Canberra clocked the highest capital city private treaty median price for houses at $850,000 and $780,500, respectively. Sydney also held the pole position for units, with a private treaty median of $645,500, while Melbourne followed with an average figure of $550,000.

Perth was the most affordable capital city for houses, with the private treaty median price sitting at $480,000. Meanwhile, Darwin was the most affordable for units at $294,000.

Private treaty sales represent around 85 per cent of all dwelling sales across the country, according to CoreLogic.

Average time on market for houses was shortest in Hobart at 34 days, followed by Adelaide (47), Melbourne (49), Sydney (51), Perth (54) and Canberra (62). Darwin had the longest time on market at 64 days.

For units, Hobart also recorded the lowest number at 38 days, while Brisbane was the highest at 74 days, followed by Sydney (69) and Darwin (63).

Article by Bianca Dabu