Greetings from Scoutable and welcome to our first newsletter of the year. We hope you had a great holiday season and wish you the very best for 2021.
The property market usually (unofficially) kicks off after Australia Day. However, with many not travelling over summer, open home inspections commenced earlier this year, starting in the first week of January. Whilst there have been plenty of buyers about, there have been a limited number of good quality properties on the market so far this year.
Last Saturday was the first weekend of auctions for 2021. Nationally, there was a total of 891 properties scheduled for auction, up from 625 properties the same week last year.
Sydney reported 272 auctions, with a preliminary auction clearance rate of 82.9%, in comparison to 158 auctions and a 72.9% clearance rate the same week last year. Melbourne reported 388 auctions with a preliminary auction clearance rate of 83% (same week last year - 211 auctions and a 65.8% clearance rate). Overall, the first round of auctions is suggesting the housing market is continuing to build momentum with rising property values. It will be interesting to see how the market performs as stock levels continue to increase over the coming months.
CoreLogic’s January home value index showed Australian housing values has risen 0.9% over the month. Factors supporting the rebound of the market include (but not limited to), improving economic conditions and low interest rates which are expected to remain low well into 2022. Refer Index results table below.
The rise in housing values is further fuelled by low stock levels. CoreLogic reported that nationally, the number of new listings over the four weeks ending January 24th was 3.3% lower than the same period a year ago and 13.3% below the five year average. However, real estate agent activity across CoreLogic’s RP Data platform is up 6.5% in January compared with the same period last year.
Tim Lawless, CoreLogic's Head of research commented “A lift in real estate agent activity typically leads to a rise in new listing numbers with a lag of a few weeks. We are expecting to see new advertised stock levels rising substantially through early February, well above last year’s levels". However, Mr Lawless further commented “At the moment, despite our expectation of a lift in new listing numbers, buyer demand is still outpacing new stock additions. If this trend persists, the rapid rate of absorption is likely to keep overall stock levels low resulting in further upwards pressure on housing prices.”
If you would like to discuss the current conditions of the market in more detail or are looking to buy property in Australia, please get in touch to learn about Scoutable's services and how we can assist with your property search.
Until next month,
Kellie Landrey | Principal Buyers Agent