Auction market wobbles continue: Economy market

The slow, steady decline of the Australian residential property market continued over the weekend, with properties for sale by auction and clearance rates falling in many Australian capital city markets.

The auction market was hit hardest in Sydney, where the clearance rate dropped from 56% last weekend to 50%, according to Australian Property Monitor figures, although the number of properties on the auction market increased from 196 to 247.

In Brisbane, 28% of 23 properties sold, a fall in both numbers for sale and clearance rates compared to last weekend’s 36% sale rate on 34 properties.

And conditions also softened in Adelaide, where 45% of 27 properties sold, well down from the 71% of 26 properties that went last weekend.

The only steady auction market was Melbourne, although it too is subdued compared to last year. The clearance rate picked up 1% on the weekend to 64%, according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria data, while the number of properties for auction increased slightly from 560 to 581.

On the markets today, the S&P/ASX200 is down 1.1% on Friday’s close to 5707.4 at midday. Nerves about oil prices and the impact on the US economy triggered selling across all sectors this morning, with resources stocks taking the biggest hits.

And at the same time the Australian dollar is trading at US95.94c, down from the US96c-plus levels achieved late last week.

Read more about auction clearance rates.