Auction market comes back to life

From ABC Website…”Clearance rates for houses on auction ranged from 33 per cent to 60 per cent at three major real estate agencies. It comes after a weekend last month in which none of the houses offered for sale by auction in the ACT were sold. ”
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Hmmmm. I think the most important paragraph in the original story is the bit about ‘no houses’ selling at auction a few weeks ago. Its now impossible for real estate agents to claim the housing market is strong. I pity anyone who’s planning to sell at auction during the traditional Spring sales (when agents were claiming things would bounce back). Its easy to see some of the houses are sitting on the market for months. All the photos on allhomes.com have a date stamp when uploaded.

“33 to 60 per cent at three major real estate agencies” tells you nothing at all. One agency sold 1/3 properties it was auctioning, and one sold 3/5. Hardly newsworthy stuff, ABC.

As an aside, the consistent denials by the real estate industry that the market is in decline, when clearly it is, are quite amusing to observe. In particular, the quotes from real estate agents which accompany the summary in Sunday’s Canberra Times of the previous day’s sales go to new depths in trying to justify poor auction clearance rates and create some positive spin. A couple of weeks ago Robert Westropp-Evans said something to the effect that buyer demand had never been stronger!

The Feds have announced help for homebuyers, and interest rates are falling fast. Of course the property will pick up!

Er no. The ABC is reporting that ACT Real Estate Institute president Michael Wellsmore said that. One is credible, the other is not.