Sydney’s record-breaking home auction market continued its blistering run on the weekend, with 304 properties listed for auction on Saturday compared to 73 over the same weekend last year.
Sellers have continued to crowd the market in record numbers right up until Christmas to make the most of stronger market conditions.
Senior economist for Australian Property Monitors Dr Andrew Wilson says the median house price is set to rise by 12 per cent in Sydney this year with prices in the inner west, the south and the upper north shore on track to increase by as much as 20 percent over the year.
That said – Saturday’s final clearance rate of 68.7 percent was the lowest recorded since the Queen’s Birthday weekend 6 months ago.
Sydney’s weekend auction clearance rate has been trending down over recent weeks with the December average of 74.3 per cent well down on the average of 81.2 per cent recorded over November.
Australian auction results
Looking at this week’s auction results across Australian capital cities - Sydney recorded a 69 per cent clearance rate from 304 properties for auction, Melbourne cleared 70 per cent from 399 properties, Brisbane had a 57 per cent clearance rate from 31 properties listed and Adelaide cleared 70 per cent from 27 reported auctions.
Commentary
There has been further evidence of a property market recovery this week. National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) Chief Economist, Markets, Rob Henderson says the RBA is unlikely to cut interest rates further until mid next year, at least in part due to the soaring property market.
Commercial property sector
Mirvac Group
(ASX:MGR) has sold two regional malls in New South Wales and Victoria for $100 million and bought new commercial and residential assets in Victoria and Western Australia. The property group says it’s completed the sale of the Gippsland Centre in Sale, Victoria for $55 million, and the Orange City Centre in NSW for $49.5 million. Mirvac has also acquired a 113,000 square metre industrial site at Eastern Creek, NSW, for $55 million, with plans to develop it into industrial business park, and a 30-hectare, residential development site in Baldivis, south west of Perth, for $10.7 million.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) intends to accept a Dexus Property Group
(ASX:DXS)-led consortium's takeover bid for its Commonwealth Property Office Fund
(ASX:CPA). The announced preference sparked a rival offer from GPT Group
(ASX:GPT). The bank says it will agree to the offer from Dexus and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board if its acceptance takes the consortium's relevant interests in the fund to at least 50.1 per cent.CBA says it also requires the consortium's offer to be otherwise unconditional. Commonwealth Bank says it reserves its right not to accept the offer.
