Sydney auction clearance rate ~70%...ish

Fewer auctions this weekend as it is the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

APM reported here that there were 253 auctions to be held this weekend with the highest listings on the north shore and in the inner west.

And APM later reported here that the clearance rate was 70%.

However, the reported results only covered 171 properties. These inconsistencies cause scepticism around the robust nature of results.

I noticed in passing that one of the reported results wasn't a scheduled auction for this weekend - it was a property scheduled for auction next weekend which sold prior to auction.

Overall, the results looked a little patchy - solid but not spectacular, with perhaps only a moderate lift in prices on a year ago.

Maybe Sydney is in for a quieter winter selling season, although in truth this wasn't the best weekend from which to judge with far fewer properties scheduled for auction.

Similar story in Melbourne where the reported clearance rate from APM was weaker than the trend at 60%.

Sydney 81.4% auction clearance rate

Solid enough result for Melbourne today, recording a 69% auction clearance rate according to APM (REIV recorded 70% from their sample).

That's just about par for the course for the softer winter months.

On the other hand, the Sydney market is absolutely flying recording another very high clearance rate of 81.4% per APM.

The median sale price on the day was more than $800,000. 

With properties selling so quickly in Sydney, prices will very likely continue to rise to new heights in the coming months.

Sydney auctions point to further price gains

The REIV reported a solid enough 72% auction clearance rate for Melbourne on Saturday.

In Sydney, APM reported an "extraordinary" 81% clearance rate, the third consecutive week in which the 80% barrier has been exceeded.

The activity levels continue to point to an ongoing price boom in the hot sectors of the market in Sydney.

Earlier in the week, APM reported that house prices in Sydney, Perth and Canberra are now at record highs with Melbourne only a shade below its all-time highs, although Brisbane and Adelaide still have a way to go if they are to follow suit.

Perth and Sydney have recorded gains of around 10% since their respective troughs of a little over a year ago and prices have increased reasonably well everywhere except for Adelaide.

But it's Sydney that is the real embarrassment for the chorus of voices predicting a "40% crash" half a decade ago, with prices well above all previous peaks.

Not only did dwelling prices increase by more than 20% as household incomes grew, the price gains actually now appear to be accelerating with properties selling remarkably quickly and a swathe of speculative investment capital flowing into the city.

If you're a follower of the weird obsession with daily house prices, RP Data has Sydney prices up around 5% in less than 50 days, and looks set to report increases of around 2% in July alone at the end of this month.

I'm not sure how those who called a crash so hopelessly wrong will explain that one away.

Property Update: articles of the week

Summarised by Michael Yardney at Property Update here.

A very strong 75% of properties sold at auction on Saturday in Sydney, with buyer activity some 20% higher than a year ago according to APM.

Meanwhile RP Data shows that prices have increased across all capital cities in the past 12 months.

Source: RP Data

In particular, Perth (+7.78%) and Sydney prices are strong, with Sydney dwelling prices breaking up to new all-time highs (+4.73%).

Source: RP Data