No Christmas cheer for auctions
The festive season is doing little to improve auction clearance rates, which dropped in most states over the weekend, according to Australian Property Monitors.
In Sydney, just 49.9 per cent of properties cleared – down from 56 per cent recorded two weeks ago. This did however come off the back of record stock levels, as more properties come on to the market. In Melbourne the story was much the same, with the auction clearance rate dropping form 63.3 per cent to 57.8 per cent in a fortnight.
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Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive officer Enzo Raimondo said while auctions failed failed to perform this weekend, the Victorian market had performed well over the entire year.
“It’s interesting to note that 2010 will see the most auctions ever held in one year in Melbourne, surpassing the previous high in 1999,” he said.
And bargains are still to be found, according to Mr Raimondo, who said that houses in the sub-$300,000 price bracket went under the hammer last weekend in the Victorian suburbs of Dallas, Albanvale, Craigieburn and Coolaroo.
