Auction
A sign stands at the front of a house after it was sold at an auction in the Sydney suburb of Waverley in Australia May 28, 2015. Australia and New Zealand are looking outside traditional monetary policy to do the same thing -- cool red-hot housing markets in their biggest cites without hurting borrowers, banks and their economies -- but they are following different paths. The success, or not, of these experiments could prove critical to the outlook for interest rates in both countries, while offering a guide to other rich nations on how to manage housing booms when the broader economy still needs support. Reuters/David Gray

Sydney's auction clearance rate plummeted below 70 percent, reaching a historic low in three years on Saturday, new reports say. The clearance rate touched 69.6 percent, slightly below last week’s marking at 71.3 percent.

Saturday was the biggest ever September auction day, with as many as 984 properties were listed. Andrew Wilson, Domain Group’s senior economist, confirmed that this auction clearance rate was the lowest in the last three years. He said more buyers are investing in the market and making it more of a buyers’ market.

“Sydney’s great auction boom has clearly ended,” Wilson added.

In the past few months, clearance rates were on a slide in almost every city due to greater numbers of listings, higher priced auctions and fewer investors. This resulted in many vendors selling their properties ahead of the auction, fearing a presence of fewer buyers.

Brian Cannon, head auctioneer of Think Real Estate, sold five of his 10 auctions beforehand, a clear indication that a slowdown has slapped the property market. “There’s not as many buyers and not as much competition,” he said. However, there were many buyers who were willing to pay good prices in return, he added.

Among the listings, the Darling Point auction was reportedly the best auction in Sydney. Ettiene West of Morton Circular Quay said that he never experienced such auction bidding in his 25 years of career. “It was down to the two final bidders – they were going a bit crazy, it was incredible,” he said, adding that it was sold for AU$7.75 million, nearly AU$2.75 million above the set price.

Auctioneer Damien Cooley of Cooley Auctions said the final price was very surprising as investors had already set high price for the Darling Point. “We felt the reserve on $5 million was opportunistic at best: the property was valued to $4.5 [million] and feedback was in the early $4 million range,” he said.

Will Hampson from My Auctioneer sold all eight properties he auctioned. “As long as vendors have realistic expectations things are selling,” he added.

Contact the writer of this story at feedback@ibtimes.com.au or let us know what you think below.

RELATED STORIES