Black Saturday kills hopes of property boost

Hopes that interest rate rises would boost the property market are fading fast with dismal clearance rates in capital cities, causing property experts to dub it “Black Saturday”.

Hopes that interest rate rises would boost the property market are fading fast with dismal clearance rates in capital cities, causing property experts to dub it “Black Saturday”.

Sydney’s clearance rate has dropped back after last week’s 60% jump, with the city seeing only a 46% clearance rate. Total sales were just over $55 million, a $37 million drop from last week.

Melbourne has been hit with a second consecutive week of losses after its second 30C⁰ Saturday in a row. The city’s clearance rate dropped from 57% to 53% with only 503 properties sold, totalling $322 million.

Brisbane also saw declines from last week’s jump to 37%. While the city has been enjoying warmer weather, clearance rates dropped to 28%, with a sales total decline to just $3.7 million.

Adelaide slipped back from last week’s 73% to 68%, but is still relatively strong compared to last month’s results.

Next week may prove to be another disappointment for Melbourne, with the races leaving only 151 auctions.

Though results may be down, pundits believe prices will drop further. James Thomson talked to property experts to determine if Australia will burst a property bubble of its own.