AUSTRALIANS love property auctions but while the rest of the world might not share our passion, in many other ways our market has mirrored overseas trends during the pandemic.
According to Ray White Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee housing trends experienced in Australia have been consistent in other countries. She noted that big changes to the way we work have allowed people to move to regional and outer suburban areas that may have been inconvenient prior to the pandemic.“In the United Kingdom and United States, outer suburban areas have increased faster than inner urban areas,” Ms Conisbee said.“In Germany, house prices outside the seven biggest cities rose by 11 per cent last year, compared with six per cent within them.”Ms Conisbee said extreme price growth is also not unique and in most countries around the world, remarkably similar housing market conditions have occurred through the pandemic.“Although working like we used to has been a big problem, access to money hasn’t been,” she said.“With record low interest rates in most countries, as well as high levels of quantitative easing, banks are flushed with cash.“In Australia, the situation is so extreme that bank CEOs have commented that they have so much cash they don’t know what to do with it and the impact on their profitability is problematic. It’s likely that a similar situation is occurring elsewhere in the world.”But while prices have soared across the world, the same can not be said for rents, Ms Conisbee said.“And again, this is something that has been similar in Australia, as it is elsewhere,” she said.“While cheap and easily accessible finance has pushed up values, job loss, particularly amongst young people (the main group that rent), has pulled back rents. In most countries, price growth has been far more excessive than rental growth.”
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Moving back to what we don’t have in common - auctions - over the past six months Ray White’s internal share of auctions has risen to 31 per cent of all sales. Now is considered a great time to take advantage of huge buyer demand by creating competition through auction.While lockdowns across the country have put a hold on many auction campaigns, the Ray White Group has still recorded an 82 per cent clearance rate since the beginning of the month with 778 properties proceeding to auction.However, the lockdowns certainly haven’t put a hold on buyers' plans with 8.6 registered bidders and 4.4 active bidders virtually or physically attending auctions nationally.With the end of lockdown, the leading group is expecting a backlog of paused campaigns to launch in a delayed spring selling season.
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In Sydney, real estate agencies are still fortunate enough to be able to provide one-on-one, private inspections leaving less barriers to property sales and more standout Saturday auctions.This weekend’s Sydney online auction highlights include 1/14 Denning St, Petersham and 10/3 Roach St, Marrickville, which will both go under the hammer on Saturday morning through Ray White Surry Hills | Alexandria | Glebe | Erskineville director Ercan Ersan.“Denning Street has been one of our busiest campaigns so far while Roach Street has been really popular because of its nice outlook, city views and its position in a cul-de-sac in a quiet, leafy part of the suburb,” Mr Ersan said.Staying in Sydney’s inner west, Ray White Petersham agent Luke Northcott said 187 Denison Rd, Dulwich Hill (pictured above) has been in hot demand with a range of buyers including young couples, downsizers and a few investors. The interest he has received is expected to translate to a strong online auction this Saturday.
Moving on to Melbourne where private inspections have been banned during the lockdown, many vendors are holding off launching their campaigns while buyers have been leaving handwritten notes and begging to inspect homes according to Ray White Victoria and Tasmania CEO Stephen Dullens.Despite this, there are still some sellers who need to transact and are utilising virtual inspections to help buyers. Ray White Cheltenham director Kevin Chokshi has had 111 people view the virtual tour for 4/569-571 Lower Dandenong Road, Dingley Village which he is confident will sell above expectations on Saturday.Meanwhile, Ray White Blackburn director Peter Schenck said first home buyers seem not to be turned off by virtual inspections for 34 Selkirk Ave, Wantirna (pictured above).“I can’t believe how many people have been logging on to our virtual inspections and how many people have committed to buy without having seen it,” Mr Schenck said.“Most like that kitchen and bathroom are fully renovated, while there has also been some interest in the land from buyers who want to eventually build something new.”Ray White Oakleigh agents Eddy He and Leigh Kelepouris have also had no lack of interested buyers on 30 Seaview Cres, Mulgrave which they describe as “low maintenance luxury”. While the property is a townhouse, buyers have loved that it has no common land, no body corporate fees and offers more of a stand-alone house lifestyle.The Ray White Craigieburn office were early adopters of the online auction method and this week will take six properties to the virtual auction block in a digital “in-rooms” session at 10am - all are expected to sell above expectations. List below:
- 26 Ocean Way, Craigieburn
- 27 Burrora Way, Craigieburn
- 33 Hollyhock Rd, Craigieburn
- 19 Gateshead St, Craigieburn
- 85 Whitfield Cres, Craigieburn
Up north, Brisbane has been less affected by rolling lockdowns and the spring selling season is gathering momentum as the weather warms up.In Grange, an auction at 26 Greenway Street (pictured above) is being billed as one not to miss by Ray White Wilston principal Alistair Macmillan who has had buyers flocking to inspections.“There’s been a mix of buyers including young couples as this is an entry-level home for the suburb, and downsizers because of the low maintenance block and size of the house,” Mr Macmillan said.
The Adelaide spring selling season has hit, with plenty of standout auctions to keep property hunters happy this weekend.Ray White Port Adelaide principal Nick Psarros has named 39 King St, Pennington, 127 East Street, Brompton and 7 De Haviland Ave, Hendon as his highlights this weekend.Meanwhile, Ray White Woodville principal Peter Kiritsis also has several auctions to watch including 51 Albemarle St, West Hindmarsh and 37 Glengarry St, Woodville South (pictured above).Top auction agent for Ray White South Australia Ryan Stapleton from Ray White Norwood will also be taking 1 Mitchell St, Parafield Gardens to what is expected to be a knockout auction while Ray White Henley Beach principal Anthony Fahey is confident the auction at 13 Renwick St, West Beach will attract some fierce competition.
