A cool change has swept through Australia’s biggest auction markets, with bidder competition easing as more homes go under the hammer and buyer fatigue sets in.
An increase in homes hitting the market post-lockdown was the key reason for eased auction competition and slowing price growth, said Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee. However, rising interest rates and tougher lending restrictions were also weighing on buyers’ minds. The level of savings people directed to property had also been expected to fall as cities and borders reopened, she added.
Ms Conisbee said strong demand from interstate buyers was helping to support competition in Brisbane, with 25 per cent of Queensland properties sold through Ray White last week going to interstate buyers.And there are plenty more auctions to come before the end of the year, particularly in both Sydney and Melbourne, which Domain figures show are both set to have at least two more Super Saturdays –of 1000-plus auctions – before the market’s summer shutdown.
Properties that were getting 20 people at an open home a month back were now drawing a dozen or fewer buyers, while active bidder numbers had typically gone from five or six to three or four over the past month.