More buyers, including investors, are returning to Sydney auctions following a prolonged dip in clearance rates, with properties now receiving what some are describing as “frenzied” inquiries.
Domain economist Trent Wiltshire said the market appeared to be at a turning point with stronger auction clearance rates throughout July.
Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate for the weekend sat at 73 per cent after 340 auctions and 240 reported results.
Mr Wiltshire said the auction clearance rate for July was 72 per cent in Sydney, the highest point in more than two years for auctions.
“We’re also seeing fewer properties being withdrawn before auction, which is a sign of a stronger market,” he said.
It follows news that Sydney’s biggest fall in property prices since the 1980s appears to be coming to an end.
Domain data from the June quarter has shown price falls are slowing with house and unit prices dropping by just 0.4 per cent – the smallest drop since the peak at the end of 2017.
“With interest rates likely to fall further, I think we’ll see some modest price growth of 2 per cent to 3 per cent over the next year,” Mr Wiltshire predicted.
An auction of a four-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 29 Fawcett Street, Ryde, showed the local market was in a “mini-frenzy”, according to selling agent Phillip Allison, of Belle Property Hunters Hill.
The property, which sold for $60,000 above the reserve at $1.66 million, attracted 15 registered bidders, three of whom were active throughout the auction.
Allison said the winning bidders were a young couple from the Hills District, who intended to live in the home for a while before knocking it down to rebuild.
He said buyers had come back to the Ryde market after a lacklustre start to the year.
“[Since] we’ve had the surprise election result and two interest rate drops … buyers are excited again, but there’s not many homes to choose from. As a result, the market is in a mini-frenzy,” he said
First-home buyers were back in earnest with most bidders on a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 5/49 Forsyth Street, Kingsford, looking for their first home.
Ray White chief auctioneer for NSW Alex Pattaro said the property sold for $650,000, and six of the seven registered bidders were first-home buyers.
He said the home eventually sold to a happy first-home buyer; the sellers were investors who had owned the property for four years.
Pattaro said there had been a spike in confidence from first-home buyers and investors at the weekend, typically in areas of Sydney where new infrastructure was being built.
“The winter months are typically slower for the Sydney market, however we are seeing vendors rewarded for selling now as competition continues to increase week on week,” he said.
Investors snapped up a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 15 Cook Street, Rozelle.
McGrath Balmain’s Cindy Kennedy said the property soared $305,000 above reserve, selling for $1,503,000.
Kennedy said there were seven registered bidders fighting it out for the three-bedroom, two-bathroom weatherboard home, which was in need of some love.
“It was a renovation project hotly contested,” she said.
The buyers were local investors who lived on the same street. They had plans to renovate the property.