This article was originally published by EMILY RITCHIE via theaustralian.com.au December 11, 2017
Melbourne’s property market is showing no signs of slowing down in the lead-up to Christmas, with the city recording its second-highest number of auctions for the year over the past week.
Almost 2000 properties went under the hammer, 200 more than this time last year: 64.7 per cent were sold at auction.
CoreLogic commentator Kevin Brogan said the rise in auction volume demonstrated a typical “rush to the finish line” for the end of the year.
“We often see a headlong rush towards the new year, with people wanting to be in their new home by Christmas or wanting a new property for the new year,” Mr Brogan said.
Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, recorded the week’s highest preliminary clearance rate of 83.87 per cent from about 80 auctions.
Auctions were down in Sydney, its softening market reflected in auction volume and clearance rates. It had 990 auctions last week, 150 fewer than the previous week, with a clearance rate of 58.7 per cent.
CoreLogic data shows 26,000 properties currently advertised for sale in Sydney, a 19.6 per cent rise on property listings advertised this time last year.
Perth had a clearance rate of 46.7 per cent across 62 auctions.
Canberra remains resilient, with 66.7 per cent of properties sold from 84 reported results,
Adelaide remains steady with clearance rates in the mid-60s. Brisbane returned the lowest results this week, with 46.6 per cent successful sales from 131 auctions.