Australian Property Market Sees Signs of Recovery in Big Cities

The Australian property market is showing signs of recovery, with weekend auctions resuming after the Easter break and displaying continued market strength. According to Jonathan Chancellor’s article in CoreLogic, the national weekend preliminary clearance rate reached 69.8%, slightly higher than the 68.8% four-week average leading up to Easter. Major cities like Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide all reported success rates of over 70%.

CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless noted that rising values are more evident in pricier markets than in cheaper ones. He stated that the lift in housing values was most noticeable in Sydney’s upper-quartile house market, which increased by 2% last month after experiencing the largest drop from the peak of any capital city market segment.

The market’s strength is also apparent in Melbourne, despite the city preparing for an Easter break. As Nathan Mawby reports in his article for the Herald Sun, last week saw several strong auctions, including one with five competing bidders. Former Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Richard Simpson said that while the market might be quieter during the break, new campaigns are expected to start towards the end of April.

Barry Plant’s CEO, Mike McCarthy, attributes the strength in the market to the lack of stock resulting from people being too worried about recent interest rate moves to list their homes for sale. He explained, “Stock across the board is 25-30% down… on the same time last year.” This lack of stock is underpinning the over-reserve results currently seen in the market.

The property market’s rebound is a positive sign for the Australian economy, and the continuation of this trend could lead to a strong year for the real estate sector. As Matt Lancashire from Ray White New Farm commented on the Brisbane prestige market, “Four of them bidding over $6m is a good sign,” and added, “I am anticipating that we’ll have a strong winter too.”

References:

Chancellor, J. (2023). Signs of a recovery in big city property markets. CoreLogic. Retrieved from https://www.corelogic.com.au/

Mawby, N. (2023). Victorian auction market to pause for Easter despite strong sales. Herald Sun. Retrieved from https://www.heraldsun.com.au/