Hot Canberra market smashes local auction records

The Canberra home auction market produced another healthy result for sellers despite the unprecedented challenge of a record number of listings.

Canberra recorded a clearance rate of 70.5 per cent on Saturday which was well above the previous weekends 59.5 per cent and significantly higher than the 57.1 percent recorded over the same weekend last year.

115 homes were scheduled to go under the hammer in Canberra at the weekend in the usual pre-Easter rush to market. This year’s autumn Super Saturday of auctions however smashed the previous record for weekend auction numbers set on the pre-Easter Saturday of March 19 last year and December 10 also last year.

The local market also set weekend benchmarks for the highest number of auction sales reported and the highest value of homes sold by auction.

Tuggeranong  reported the highest regional clearance rate at the weekend with 83.3 per cent followed by Woden Valley 66.7 per cent, Canberra Central 60.0 per cent, Gungahlin 54.5 per cent, Belconnen 33.3 per cent and Weston Creek where the three reported listings failed to sell at auction.

Notable sales reported at the weekend included a  5  bedroom home at 14 Landsborough  Street Griffith sold for  $1,400,000 by Luton Properties Woden, a  2  bedroom home at 24 Booroondara  Street Reid sold for  $1,390,000 by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate, a  3  bedroom home at 51 Captain Cook  Crescent Griffith sold by McGrath Estate Agents for  $1,360,000, a  4  bedroom home at 18 Duterrau  Crescent Lyneham sold for  $1,165,000 also by McGrath Estate Agents and another  4  bedroom home at 192 Dryandra  Street O’Connor sold by Belle Property Kingston for  $1,150,000.

The most expensive property reported sold at auction was a 4  bedroom home at 7 Teakle  Place Bruce sold for  $1,430,000 by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a  2  bedroom home at 60 Enright  Crescent Florey sold for  $385,000 by One Agency Gungahlin.

For a list of Canberra auction results click here Canberra auction results April 8

Canberra recorded a median auction price of $765,000 on Saturday which was lower than the $823,000 reported the previous weekend but 5.5 per cent higher than the $725,000 recorded over the same weekend last year. A total of $43.1m was reported sold at auction in Canberra at the weekend.

Low mortgage rates are a key catalyst for continuing strong auction market conditions in Canberra.

The Reserve Bank has again decided to leave official interest rates on hold over April.  Rates have now been on hold since August last year when they were cut to the record low 1.5 per cent.

Although rates remain on hold, latest economic data remains mixed with the national unemployment rate now at a year high 5.9 per cent and latest retail sales data disappointing. A number of capitals have unemployment rates significantly higher than a year ago. A continued deterioration in the jobless rate and weak retail spending will likely result in official rate cuts sooner rather than later – despite recent house price hysteria.

Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Chief Economist Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn and Facebook at MyHousingMarket