Hi ,
There was a slight improvement on the clearance rate over the weekend although the amount of auctions decreased. 387 auctions were reported to the REIV resulting in 215 selling at auction, 60 selling before auction and 112 passing in. There were an additional 183 private sales.
The final clearance rate result last week was 68% on a higher volume weekend of 509. The clearance rate has stabilised well and truly into the mid to high 60%’s and the drop in auctions over the weekend pushed it back into the 70%’s.
There sentiment in the property market seems to be a little bit more positive than it was a couple of months ago. More bidders at auction, people willing to transact and many open for inspections are attracting good numbers. The reality is that people still need shelter and there will always be a demand for housing. If someone is buying and selling in the same market at the same price point, then there really shouldn’t be a negative or positive effect. Somebody who is upsizing could benefit with a larger discount on the upgrade but someone downsizing may hold off until the market conditions are more favorable.
Buyers are now fully aware that interest rates are rising and there are potentially more to come. Many buyers are factoring these interest rate hikes into their budgets, but also the banks are also factoring the new interest rates in when calculating people’s borrowing power. Whilst there are buyers on the sideline not acting, there are certainly some buyers who are willing to transact and we are still seeing some strong sales results on properties.
One example of a strong result was a property that sold last week in Elwood. Located in one of the the best streets, the three year old house on 515 sqm had four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a double garage. The property was quoted at $5,750,000 – $6,100,000 via an Expressions of Interest campaign and sold in the vicinity of mid $6,000,000’s (price undisclosed).
Have a great week.
Kim Easterbrook
