Canberra's home auction market produced another overall satisfactory result for sellers at the weekend although clearance rates have struggled to exceed 70 per cent over recent weekends.
Canberra recorded a clearance rate of 69.8 per cent on Saturday, which was higher than the 67.6 per cent reported the previous weekend but well down again on the 78.6 per cent recorded over the same weekend last year.
49 homes were listed for auction on Saturday which was slightly higher than the 47 auctioned over the previous weekend and similar to the 52 auctions scheduled over the same weekend last year. The local market will be tested next weekend with a remarkable 107 homes set to go under the hammer.
Weston Creek was the top performing suburban region in Canberra at the weekend with a 100 per cent clearance rate from the four reported auctions. Next highest was Canberra Central and Gungahlin each with 87.5 per cent followed by Belconnen with 83.3 per cent and Tuggeranong and Woden Valley well behind, each with a clearance rate of 33.3 per cent at the weekend.
Notable sales reported at the weekend included a four-bedroom home at 26 Pelsart Street Red Hill sold by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate for $1,285,000, a three-bedroom home at 39 Sturt Avenue Narrabundah sold for $1,100,000 by Luton Properties - Weston, a four-bedroom home at 13 McLaren Crescent Pearce sold for $1,090,000 by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate, a three-bedroom home at 44 Stephen Street Ainslie sold by Canreps Private Sales for $906,000 and a five-bedroom home at 12 Warrego Circuit Kaleen sold by McGrath Estate Agents for $901,000.
The most expensive property reported sold at auction was a four-bedroom home at 1/12 Gould Street Turner sold for $1,339,000 by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate. The most affordable property reported sold at the weekend was a three-bedroom home at 15/29 Muriel Stewart Circuit Bonner sold for $478,000 by Peter Blackshaw Real Estate.
For a list of Canberra auction results click here: Canberra auction results October 21.
Canberra recorded a median auction price of $626,000 on Saturday, which was lower than the $735,000 reported over the previous weekend and 11.2 per cent lower than the $705,000 reported over the same weekend last year. A total of $20.2 million was reported sold at auction in Canberra at the weekend.
Most capital city markets have reported steady rents over the September quarter, although rentals generally remain significantly higher than recorded over the same quarter last year.
Canberra and Hobart, however, bucked the national trend, with rents increasing over the quarter by 4.2 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively. By contrast, Perth house rents continue to fall, down by 2.8 per cent to $350 per week and now the most affordable of all the capitals.
Latest Domain data reveals that house rents in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne and Sydney remained stable over the three months ending September, providing some positive news for tenants in those markets.
Although most capitals recorded steady house rents over the September quarter, generally rents have increased sharply over the past year. Hobart annual rents have skyrocketed by 13.6 per cent with Canberra also up steeply by 6.3 per cent, Melbourne rising 5.0 per cent, Sydney up 3.8 per cent and also Adelaide where rents have increased by 2.9 per cent over the past year.
Brisbane annual house rents have remained stable with Darwin and Perth, however, the clear underperformers with rents falling by 5.5 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively.
Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Chief Economist Twitter@DocAndrewWilson join on LinkedIn.