Canberra’s real estate industry wraps up its biggest month of the year

The Canberra property market has just wrapped up its busiest month of the year, with November’s auction volumes exceeding that of any other month this calendar year.

November generally attracts a high volume of auctions for several reasons including, armed forces personnel and public servants moving to Canberra at the end of the year and into the new year. It also attracts buyers into particular suburbs because of new-year school enrolments and the restricted radius that schools accept applicants from.

November was always going to be tested to see if it maintained its performance from previous years results, with clearance rates weakening year-on-year. To add to the mix, Canberra’s clearance rate for October dropped to its lowest level in almost two years. From 322 auctions in October, only 55 per cent sold via auction, down from 62 per cent in September.

There were 473 reported auctions across Canberra and Queanbeyan, and the average clearance rate was a little over 45% per cent. In comparison to November 2017, there were 504 auctions across Canberra and Queanbeyan in November, and the clearance rate was 66 per cent. Despite the volume of auctions, it was the lowest monthly clearance rate since a 40 per cent output in December 2013, and the lowest for the month of November since 2011.

Despite the low clearance rates, homes have been sold relatively quickly post-auction with negotiations after a home has been passed in becoming more common. It is believed that the changes to lending conditions and tighter regulations being enforced by the banks are creating tougher conditions in the real estate market.

Weston Creek had the highest number of auction sales with 57 per cent of properties selling via auction.