Autumn season strong as market pause approaches - John McGrath

We are seeing good competition at auctions this Autumn, with the national combined capital city clearance rate holding above 60%, which is considered the benchmark for a balanced market.

Looking ahead, we’ll see a pause in market activity over the Easter school holidays in mid-April. In addition, with the Federal Election to be held in May, we’ll see fewer auctions scheduled for Election day (even though there is no reason to avoid election day!).

While the market is currently cooling across the board, it was interesting to see Sydney reverse the trend with an 0.3% median price rise in February after three consecutive months of falls.

The combined capital cities median price also went up by 0.3% after two consecutive months of declines, while the regional median continued its gradual but consistent upward trajectory.

The data tells us that prices are holding up pretty well even though market conditions have changed.

There is greater evidence of the market slowing down in the days-on-market (DOM) statistics.