Andrew Wilson: Canberra's mid-winter auction market heats up

The Canberra housing market continues to provide robust results for sellers with no sign of the usual mid-winter slowdown in activity.

Canberra recorded an extremely solid 71.6 per cent auction clearance rate over July which was a sharp increase compared to the 62.8 per cent increase recorded over the previous month and also well ahead of the 66.8 per cent recorded over the same month last year.

The Canberra result was just behind the market leader Melbourne that reported a July auction clearance rate of 71.7 percent and well ahead of the Sydney clearance rate of 64.9 per cent.

Mid-winter auction listings were also on the rise in Canberra over July with 214 homes scheduled to go under the hammer which was well ahead of the 185 listed over July last year.

1821 homes have been auctioned in Canberra this year so far which is an increase of 288 or 18.8 more than the 1533 listed over the same period last year.

Canberra recorded a median auction price of $700,000 over July which a sharp rise over the previous month’s median of $677,500 and 9.9 per cent higher than the $637,000 recorded over July last year.

Sydney recorded the highest median auction price over July at $1,190,000 followed by Melbourne $742,000, Canberra $700,000, Brisbane $657,500 and Adelaide $574,500.

The Canberra housing market will commence August on the rise with heady confidence from both buyers and sellers fuelling higher prices and increased listings despite the usual distractions of the winter market.

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• Related: Tough competition at ACT auctioneering championships

Official interest rates will predictably remain on hold again over August and likely for the reminder of the year, although there is still an outside chance of a near-term cut if the dollar continues to surge.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group chief economist. Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn and Facebook at MyHousingMarket.