Well, it is interesting reading all the different publications and Auction recording outlets to see what the results were for the weekend just gone.
I know that these agencies require agents to report their sales (on the most part) and report them correctly, this can be why there is some variation the data we look at, depending on which site we choose to use.
The records I have chosen to rely on suggest an Auction Clearance Rate of 74% but I have seen higher, this is incredible, especially considering most people were almost praying for the market to crash and burn.
There were 358 Auctions scheduled to take place on Saturday with with 265 reported to have gone up and a fantastic result with 217 reported to have gone under the hammer.
What I find most interesting from the results is the median sale price of the properties cleared, $1,041,500 which is back where we saw it last year and contradicts my hypothesis that when the rates drop the median goes up.
Now, this could be the result of a couple of different scenarios, the main one being, with the amount of buyers ‘left over’ from last year scrambling into the market to buy early in the years – before winter. This, coupled with the low stock, could be creating a bit of a frenzy contributing to these higher than predicted clearance rates.
It has also been reported by some outlets that the market has seen almost a 1% rise in prices in January, there is also chat that the prices may in fact continue. This was the main reason buyers stopped buying, at the hope prices would drop, this could be the buyers realising that this may not be a reality.
Whatever it is, we will be able to discuss it with the benefit of hindsight soon enough.
Thomas Merriman.
Thomas Merriman 