Sellers rush to auction as rate rises loom

167 views 2021-11-08 13:43:49

Looming rate rises have given homeowners more reason to sell before any slowdown kicks in, adding further momentum to the auctions market which posted its third-busiest week of the year so far.

More than three-quarters of the 3276 homes slated to go on the block over the past week changed hands, on CoreLogic’s preliminary action figures.

Pent-up demand with the ending of long lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne, along with confidence in the economy, have bolstered buyers. Sydney’s weekly auction totals have risen by 50 per cent since the lockdown ended almost a month ago.

The city clocked up a preliminary clearance rate of 75.9 per cent from 1046 results recorded so far. In Melbourne, 72 per cent of 1127 results recorded so far changed hands.

But it is not just buyers who are motivated. Vendors may also be opting to sell earlier than they might have as the housing boom shows signs of moderating, according to SQM Research’s Louis Christopher.

“There has been a lot of deferred activity left over from August and September and parts of October. It’s all feeding into the present day auction listings,” he said on Sunday.

“Part of it too is that perhaps some vendors are sensing that we are close to the top of the housing market, and they think it’s a good time to sell.

“There’s been increasing chatter of the potential for an interest rate rise. Most people are aware of APRA’s action to slow down lending growth by putting a harder serviceability test on the banks.”

Brisbane posted an 85.7 per cent clearance rate from 262 listings, on CoreLogic’s preliminary figures. The northern capital has escaped the worst of the pandemic disruption, drawing increased population from disenchanted southerners.

They were among the 29 registered bidders for a four-bedroom home at 35 Pareena Crescent in Mansfield, a suburb in Brisbane’s south, which sold over the weekend for $1.252 million, $287,000 above reserve.

“The school zone and lifestyle living are big parts of Mansfield’s popularity and that family demographic has been very active in the market lately. They are confident and well-informed auction buyers,” Ray White Annerley principal Geoff Sellars said.

“But it’s not just locals who have been looking at Mansfield, we also had nine online interstate registrations today to add to the other 20 on-site bidders.”

In Sydney’s inner east, a three-bedroom home at 136 Doncaster Avenue in Kensington sold for $2.465 million after going on the market at $2.35 million.

Further south, cashed-up Melburnians are making the most of it as well, especially on the Mornington Peninsula, where buyers’ agent Emma Bloom, of Morrell & Koren, said there is intense interest from buyers at Flinders, Shoreham and Red Hill, which are further in from the traditional beachside strips.

“There is no slowing down there. People want to own a piece of the coast. Some of them are going to spend more time there than they do in Melbourne. They want the luxury of having a getaway. It’s slim pickings: you’ve got to come with pockets full of money.”

Among the smaller capitals, Canberra achieved the highest preliminary clearance rate at 91.4 per cent with 133 auctions listed, followed by Adelaide, with 85.8 per cent of the 231 homes listed for auction changing hands on CoreLogic’s preliminary figures.

“The market is still going forward at this point, given the clearance rate, given the activity,” Mr Christopher said.

“There are still plenty of buyers out there. It’s upgraders and investors who are driving the market at this time. They still seem rather keen. There’s been no material drop-off in that buyer segment.”

This article is from Australian Financial Review, please click the following link for the original article: https://www.afr.com/property/residential/sellers-rush-to-auction-as-rate-rises-loom-20211107-p596nt

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