Months of political uncertainty culminated in a predictably soft auction market last week, as less than 1000 homes went under the hammer across the capital cities.
Saturday's election result may have ended the uncertainty regarding Labor's proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax but just how much confidence is returned to the auction market in the coming weeks remains unclear, according to CoreLogic.
The firm's weekly market wrap indicated 917 homes were taken to auction across the capital cities last week as the nation's focus turned to the federal ballot.
A preliminary clearance rate of 57 per cent was recorded off the back of last week's final rate of 54 per cent.
CoreLogic market commentator Kevin Brogan said it was difficult to identify the true impact negative gearing talk had on the investor market.
"Before the discussion on negative gearing had begun, investors were having difficulty obtaining finance for the purchase of a property due to the regulatory controls in place," he said.
"Even with the status quo of residential property taxation being restored, the difficulty in obtaining finance is still there as something that exerts downward pressure on investor activity levels.
"The preliminary figures for the next few weeks show a recovered level of activity, but not a significant increase."
Source: CoreLogic
Sydney
There were 270 auctions held in Sydney this week returning a preliminary clearance rate of 60.7 per cent.
Last week, a higher 445 homes were taken to auction returning a 59 per cent final auction clearance rate, making it the second consecutive week Sydney’s final clearance rate has come in at the high 50 per cent range.
Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said the election was definitely a "hot topic" for buyers and sellers.
"A lot of people were nervous that the property market would continue to soften if Labor won power," he said.
"We look forward to putting all this political jargon behind us, so we can just continue selling property."
Melbourne
Melbourne was the best performing auction market of the week, according to CoreLogic's preliminary figures.
The city had a clearance rate of 62.9 per cent was across 427 auctions this week, in comparison with 546 auctions and a final clearance rate of 55.7 per cent the previous week.
This time last year, 1,033 auctions were held across the city, returning a final clearance rate of 62 per cent.
REIV CEO Gil King said while the weekend was quieter for auctions, there were some highlights in the sub-regions.
"There were five auction sales in Glen Iris and Reservoir, with the latter recording a 100 per cent clearance rate along with Armadale where all four listings sold," he said.
Smaller markets
Canberra came in with the strongest preliminary result with 56 per cent of homes selling at auction this week, while only 25 per cent of homes in Perth sold.
Among the properties to be sold in Canberra was 9 Grylls Crescent, which went for $1,020,000 on Saturday, May 18.
Selling agent Phyllis Tidmarsh of Ray White Canberra Belconnen said the election "didn't make a difference" in the selling of the property.
"We knew people were still going to be out and about," she said.
"There were three registered bidders and it ended up being a good sale, so the election didn't really factor into it."
In Brisbane, 75 reported auctions returned a preliminary clearance rate of 38.6 per cent.
Apollo Auctions auctioneer Justin Nickerson said the lower volumes made buyers "hesitant" to act.
"We experienced lower than average numbers of registered bidders, although those who did register bucked the trend and generally participated," he said.
"It will be interesting to see the market reaction to the coalition victory."
By Sean Slatter
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