SE Qld market to take off
The south east Queensland property market has yet to recover and there’s little indication of where the market will head in 2013, a local independent auctioneer has reported.
“Contrary to popular opinion, the SEQ market this year has really failed to ignite,” said Jason Andrew, director at Jason Andrew Group (JA).
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“We’re heading into 2013 in a similar position to that in which we started the year and it’s as difficult as ever to predict what will happen.
“There are certainly buyers willing to act, but as they are still heavily focused on value, vendors need to be realistic if they hope to exchange before the Christmas break.”
Mr Andrew’s company, which handles around 20 per cent of the auctions held in the region, reported a slight on-week drop in the clearance rate last week, falling from 49 per cent to 47 per cent.
The number of registered buyers at auction fell only marginally from 1.09 to 1.08, the company said, with the number of registered bidders making a bid also falling from 69 per cent to 63 per cent.
Vendors also showed slightly less motivation to moderate their price expectations, with the average shift in reserve price for properties that sold under the hammer falling from 7.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent.
On a positive note, last week the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) reported there was a noticeable shift in demand for lower-priced units and townhouses in the Gold Coast over the September quarter, with both regions recording significant jumps in the numbers of sales of properties for under $250,000.
Mr Andrew said it was interesting to note the volume of auctions was one of the highest for several months, indicating vendors this year are less sensitive to selling close to Christmas.
“But in terms of last week’s results, it’s just more of the same,” Mr Andrew said.
