Auction and Sales Update

As we approach the end of the winter selling season, the local auction market continues to be solid. A review of the REIV sales results so far this year reveals that auction sales are set to grab a higher share of the market than last year.

More vendors are choosing to sell by auction this year with over 17,000 auctions held so far, which is 13 per cent higher than this time last year. The year-to-date clearance rate improved to 70 per cent from 60 per cent last year and is also higher than the 61 per cent recorded in 2011.

It is interesting to see the difference a higher clearance rate can make to the total number of home sales. The higher clearance rate achieved so far in 2013 has resulted in more homes sold by auction than in 2011, which had more auctions held but a lower clearance rate. There were 12,000 homes sold by auction in 2013 compared to 11,100 sales for the same period in 2011.

With more homes being sold, the total value of transactions has also increased. The total value of homes sold by auction is 44 per cent higher than this time last year. The REIV recorded $8.2B in auction sales this year compared to $5.7B last year and $7.2B in 2011.

This increased activity in the market is also reflected in an increase in private sales. So far this year, there have been over 32,700 homes sold by private sale, a six per cent increase on this time last year. With the auction market improving by a larger margin than private sales, the share of homes sold by auction in 2013 is on track to exceeding last year’s share of 23 per cent.

Source – http://www.reiv.com.au