First home buyer boost

THE market appears to be calmer and creating more balance for buyers yet sellers are still achieving premium prices on their properties and auction metrics are still tracking above historical averages.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said that while price growth is calming, investor activity has skyrocketed in early 2022.

“Investors and first home buyers typically compete for the same sorts of properties at similar price points. Even though it is unlikely that the boosted first home buyers loan scheme will lead to a rebound in pricing overall, it is possible that competition for properties at the price points at which the scheme is available will become more intense,” she said.

“While the housing market is cooling (which is good news for first home buyers), it does in some ways come at a more competitive time compared to 2020 (when there was last a surge in first home buyer activity).”

In March, the Ray White Group scheduled 2809 auctions - up 21 per cent on last year. And while the clearance rate dropped marginally from last year, it still remains at a healthy 73 per cent. Bidder numbers have again dropped by a small amount but the average registered bidder tally nationally is still high at five per auction while active average bidders sit at three.

Prior to the pandemic, in March 2019, the group scheduled 1870 auctions with a clearance rate of 45 per cent and average bidder numbers of 2.7 registered per auction and 1.9 active per auction. The numbers were similar in March 2020 with 3.5 registered bidders and 2.2 active bidders on average, a clearance rate of 57 per cent and 1960 scheduled auctions.

Notably, interstate numbers decreased in March with only seven per cent of all auctions selling to someone switching states. In February that number sat at 10 per cent and in January, almost 16 per cent of auction buyers were from interstate. The number of interstate auction buyers hasn't dipped much on the Gold Coast with 19 per cent coming from over the border in March.

At the same time, international buyers have risen to just over two per cent of all auction buyers in March - up from one per cent in February when the border opened. Brisbane has seen the biggest uptake of international buyers as more than five per cent head to the sunshine state capital this month.

This week, the Ray White Group has 696 scheduled auctions including 391 booked for Saturday. Ray White Melbourne has 200 scheduled auctions, Ray White Sydney has another 190. There are 70 auctions scheduled for Ray White Brisbane and 48 for Ray White Adelaide.