A late-autumn surge has seen a flood of listings in Sydney but it's nothing the market can't handle, with clearance rates remaining high.
On Saturday 880 homes were listed for auction which equalled the previous record offering for a Sydney May Saturday set in 2014. Numbers were well ahead of the previous weekend's 773 auctions and the 573 conducted over the same weekend last year.
Sydney auction activity will continue to surge over late autumn with nearly 850 homes listed next weekend.
The clearance rate was 76.9 per cent on Saturday - slightly lower than the previous weekend's 79.3 per cent and similar to the 77.3 per cent recorded over the same weekend last year.
Sydney recorded a median auction price of $1,300,000 on Saturday which was higher than the $1,275,000 reported the previous weekend and also 17.2 per cent higher than the $1,110,000 recorded over the same weekend last year. A total of $567 million worth of property was reported sold.
The weekend's auction results follow the ABS reporting that seasonally adjusted national retail sales fell again over March following the fall recorded over February.
This was the first consecutive monthly decline in national retail turnover since November 2012 and reflects the impact on consumers of record low income growth, higher unemployment and significant under-employment.
With a clearly continuing underperforming economy and the growing prospect of negative economic growth over the March quarter, together with the likelihood of more out-of-cycle mortgage rate increases from the banks, further stimulus from the Reserve Bank from an official rate cut remains on the cards.
The lower north recorded the highest regional clearance rate at the weekend with a booming 92.6 per cent followed by the city and east, 87.9 per cent, the north-west, 82.4 per cent, the northern beaches, 80.8 per cent, the inner-west, 80 per cent and the highest sales at 84, and the upper north shore, 78.8 per cent.
Canterbury Bankstown and the south each recorded clearance rates of 75 per cent, the central coast 69.2 per cent, the west 59 per cent, and the south-west 44.4 per cent. The Blue Mountains had a clearance rate of just 20 per cent from the five reported auctions.
Notable sales reported at the weekend included:
- A four-bedroom home at 10 Billyard Avenue Wahroonga sold for $4,750,000 by Belle Property Wahroonga.
- A five-bedroom home at 2B Pibrac Avenue Warrawee sold by Di Jones Real Estate North for $4,700,000.
- A four-bedroom home at 97 St Thomas Street Clovelly sold for $4,500,000 by PhillipsPantzer Donnelley.
- A four-bedroom home at 22 Seaforth Crescent Seaforth sold for $4,450,000 by Clarke and Humel Property.
- A four-bedroom home at 15 Appian Way Burwood sold by Rich and Oliva Croydon Park for $4,350,000.
The most expensive house reported sold at auction was a five-bedroom home at 67 Coolawin Road Northbridge for $9,300,000 by Sotheby's Realty. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a three-bedroom home at 18 Barker Avenue San Remo for $428,500 by Sorensen Real Estate.
