There are still signs of caution for Australian residential property but the market is trending upward from its COVID-19 lows
23 June 2020 | Toby Thomas, CoreLogic Data
Although the cooler mid-year months generally signal a slowdown in the residential property market, the ‘new normal’ market has seen a rise as confidence recovers from the March and April depths fulled by uncertainty over the impact of the pandemic.
This positive result may have likely been assisted by the easing of national lockdowns and restrictions on public auctions. Due to concerns over a second wave, however, particularly causing Melbourne’s emergence from COVID-19 to regress, questions remain about the impact of re-imposing restrictions on the property market more broadly.
Auction volumes continue resilience
Analysis by CoreLogic Data shows, 66.1% of homes were sold at auction in the past week as total volumes rose to 1,262 homes across the Australian capital cities. The result continued the revival of the national property market, with auction volumes up from last week’s revised figure of 59.3%.
Of note, the preliminary clearance rate in both Sydney and Melbourne nudged slightly above the 60% mark, continuing to defy predictions of falling house prices this year.
Sydney’s preliminary figures further indicate that 68.5% of homes sold at auction in the past week, up from 60.9% at the same time a year ago.
In contrast, 564 Melbourne homes were taken to auction in the past 7 days, returning a preliminary success rate of 65.8%. This outcome was an improvement both in terms of volume and clearance rate success compared to the week prior, yet was marginally lower than the 68.9% auction rate seen in the same week of 2019.
