Property market proves “remarkably resilient” as sellers return

WITH REALESTATEVIEW.COM.AU

Australians who shelved plans to sell their home at the start of the pandemic are slowly returning to the market.

As state and territory governments gradually lift virus restrictions with the exception of Victoria, new data from CoreLogic shows the number of auctions scheduled in June (1,164) was roughly double the weekly average recorded in May (589).
Encouraged by governments’ handling of the health crisis and the recent return of on-site auctions, vendors are relisting their homes and feeling more confident about finding buyers.
And clearly, if you look at the Sydney clearance rate in particular, the buyers are there at the moment to take up that extra supply.
Almost two-thirds (63.3 per cent) of homes scheduled for auction in the week ending June 14 found buyers, according to CoreLogic’s preliminary weighted clearance rate across the capital cities.
Of the 795 results CoreLogic captured, 502 homes sold and 293 did not.
All of these figures are quite encouraging for the market at the moment, but what we need to bear in mind is that they are coming from a low base, because the impact of the coronavirus was quite dramatic.
CoreLogic’s advice is we need to continue to be vigilant in making sure that all the containment measures that are in place continue to keep coronavirus cases at bay.
Sydney and Melbourne – the nation’s busiest auction markets – both recorded clearance rates above 60 per cent in recent weeks.
Melbourne also experienced a rise in the numbers of properties selling at auction over the same period.
Wakelin Property Advisory director Jarrod McCabe said homes selling below $1.5 million had held up most during
the crisis.
He said this was because homes in this price bracket enjoyed more diversified demand – appealing to everyone from first-home buyers and families, to investors and up-sizers.
Mr McCabe said the federal government’s successful handling of the pandemic had encouraged buyers to return.
But he said the market’s real test would come in spring.
“Even in a strong market, you quite regularly see the clearance rate drop through spring, because of the significant increase in supply,” Mr McCabe said.
“And it will be very interesting this year, because we’ll get that again, but it’s also likely to coincide with when some of the government support mechanisms might be pulled back a bit.”
The most expensive sales across the capital cities:
Sydney’s most expensive confirmed sale was a five-bedroom, one-bathroom home at Strathfield ($5,955,000)
Melbourne’s most expensive confirmed sale was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house at South Melbourne ($5,375,000)
Adelaide’s most expensive confirmed sale was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house at Linden Park ($780,000)
Brisbane’s most expensive confirmed sale was a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house at Annerley ($1,550,000)