The busy Autumn property season is upon us, and what an exciting time of year it is! In
recent weeks, we’ve seen auction volumes surge as one of the year’s peak selling periods
kicks into gear. With so much more stock on the market, property prices in some markets
are falling, so you could have greater room to negotiate a deal on a property purchase.
Interest Rate News
As widely anticipated, this month the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided to keep the
official cash rate on hold at 1.5%. Some analysts say interest rates will remain on hold
throughout 2018, while others predict there could be a rate rise later in the year. Either way,
interest rates remain low and there are plenty of competitive home and property investment
loans available.
Property Market News
The Autumn auction market is sizzling, with volumes surging past 3,000 for the first time this
year during the week ending February 25. Auction volumes continued to grow the following
week, with over 3,400 auctions held around the country for the week ending March 4.
However, whilst average auction clearance rates were well over 70% for the last week of
February, they were not quite so strong the following week.
In Victoria for the week ending March 4, there were a whopping 1,630 scheduled auctions,
with a preliminary clearance rate of 68%. New South Wales also had a high volume of
properties go to auction – 1,239, and 66% sold. In Queensland, 271 properties were
scheduled for auction, and 45% sold under the hammer. South Australia held 111 scheduled
auctions but cleared only 42% of stock. The ACT had 114 scheduled auctions, achieving a
good clearance rate of 71%, while 30 properties went to auction in Western Australia but
only 27% sold. In the Northern Territory, there were only 5 scheduled auctions, but there
was a 100% clearance rate! And finally, Tasmania had only 7 auctions, down considerably
from the week before, with a clearance rate of only 17%.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen home values fall slightly across many of Australia’s capital
cities. According to CoreLogic, in February, most markets were showing marginal declines of
less than 1% including Melbourne at -0.05% and Sydney at -0.59%. The only markets to show an increase in home values were Hobart at +0.70%, Adelaide at +0.02% and
Brisbane/Gold Coast at +0.05% – but these increases were also marginal.
With auction stocks high, clearance rates dropping and home values steady, the property
market may finally be showing indications of swinging in favour of buyers. Interest rates are
still low, so the busy Autumn property market may give you the opportunity to negotiate a
great price on your new home or investment property. Many lenders are offering very
competitive deals on home and property investment loans right now.
As the end of the month approaches, we’d like to wish you and your family a very happy and safe Easter holiday season. Look out for our upcoming article for some suggestions to make
your family Easter celebrations more fun than ever – enjoy!
Cheers
Dave Philipsen
Parker Finance
Sources:
https://www.realestate.com.au/auction-results/
https://www.corelogic.com.au/research/monthly-indices