Australia's residential market value down to $9.7 trillion

Auction activity is expected to rise across the combined capitals with 1,958 homes currently scheduled for auction this week, up 7.4% from the previous week (1,823) and 34.8% higher than this time last year (1,453) when lockdowns impacted several auction markets.

Melbourne is the busiest auction market this week with 840 homes scheduled to go under the hammer. Up 8.1% from the previous week (777), this week’s auction activity is 117.6% higher than this time last year when just 386 auctions were held as the city remained in lockdown.

Sydney is set to see 746 homes taken to auction this week, up 8.3% from the previous week (689) and 12.9% higher than this time last year when 661 homes were taken to auction across the city.

Across the smaller capital cities, Brisbane is the only capital city market set to see fewer homes taken to auction this week with 125 auctions currently scheduled across the city, down -4.6% from the previous week (131). Adelaide is set to host the most auctions amongst the smaller capitals (128), up 2.4% compared to the week prior (125), while 102 auctions are scheduled to occur in Canberra, 8.5% higher than the previous week (94). There are 16 auctions scheduled in Perth this week, up from six last week, while there is only one auction on the radar in Tasmania this week, in line with the week prior.

Summary of results - week ending 4 September 2022

There were 1,823 homes taken to auction across the combined capitals last week. With all but five results collected, a clearance rate of 59.4% was recorded, the highest combined capital city final clearance rate since the week ending 22 May (61.3%). Last week’s clearance rate was up 3.6 percentage points compared to the previous week when 55.8% of auctions were successful. This time last year, 67.7% of reported auctions were successful.

Please below highlights from this month’s indices chart pack, which covers off on housing market data to the end of August 2022.

• - The combined value of residential real estate in Australia fell to $9.7 trillion at the end of August, down from $9.8 trillion in the previous month.
• - Dwelling values in Australia are 4.7% higher over the past 12 months, down from a cyclical peak of 22.4% recorded in the 12 months to January 2022.
• - In the month of August, every capital city dwelling market except Darwin saw a fall in values.
• - The highest annual growth rate in dwelling values among the regional and capital city dwelling markets was across Regional SA, at 22.1%. The lowest rate of change in values was across Sydney, down -2.5% over the year.
• - The rolling 28-day change in the combined capitals home value index fell a further -1.6%  through the 28 days ending August 31st.
• - Sales volumes are trending lower as buyer demand slows. CoreLogic estimates that in the 12 months to August, there were 574,263 sales nationally, down -2.3% compared to the previous year.
• - At the national level, properties are taking longer to sell. In the three months to August, the median days on market was 33, up from a recent low of 20 days over the three months to November.
• - Vendor discounting has also increased from the recent low of -2.8% recorded in the three months to April last year. In the three months to August, the median vendor discount at the national level was -4.0%.
• - In the four weeks to September 4th, there were 35,213 newly advertised dwellings for sale nationally. While the volume of new listings has trended lower, the flow of new listings is higher than in previous years, and is expected to rise in the coming weeks.
• - The combined capital cities clearance rate stabilized a little through August, averaging 56.8% in the four weeks to August 28th.
• - National rent values rose 10.0% in the 12 months to August, which is a new record high annual growth rate. Rent value increases are fairly broad-based, but the pace of growth is slowing in some smaller capital cities.
• - The number of residential dwellings approved for construction dropped -17.2% over the month of July.  The sharp drop was due to a -45% decline across the unit sector, due to a lack of high rise approvals.
• - Lending for property purchases dropped a notable -8.5% in July. Investor housing finance fell -11.2% in the month, while total owner occupier lending fell -7.0%.
• - The RBA lifted rates to 2.35% in September. The board emphasised it could increase interest rates over the months ahead, but is not on a ‘pre-set path’.
• - APRA data shows the amount of potentially risky mortgage lending has generally trended lower through the June quarter of 2022, with the exception of the portion of lending on interest only terms.