Who’s holding the bidder paddle?

Who are our auction buyers and where are they coming from?

Looking at the last 90 days, the majority of Ray White’s auction buyers have unsurprisingly been owner occupiers at 75.3 per cent, but investors have still made up 22.5 per cent. Owner occupying buyers rose to 79 per cent in the first week of August but dropped down to 72 per cent the next week. But since then, that number has been climbing back up.

Conversely, investors dipped to some of their lowest numbers at the start of August but have trended up in-line with owner occupiers and hit 25 per cent. However, this week they are on track to decrease again and the number of investors who have bought at auction is down to 21 per cent.

Canberra boasts the most owner occupiers buying at auction with 92.1 per cent, while the Gold Coast had the lowest number of owner occupying auction buyers at 70 per cent over the last 90 days.

Investors seem to be active in Adelaide, almost 28 per cent of all auction buyers in the last 90 days were buying an investment property. Melbourne recorded the lowest number of investors of all major auction regions at 18.4 per cent.

The number of international auction buyers hasn’t fluctuated much since the beginning of the year. In the last 90 days, 1.56 per cent of all buyers came from overseas. Not only are international migration numbers still low but many overseas buyers are often renting before they pull the trigger on buying.

Interstate buyers have dropped from the heights of last year, nationally 7.62 per cent of auction buyers crossed the border over the last 90 days. Local buyers have made up almost 90 per cent of all Ray White auction buyers.

Melbourne, which is back to being Australia’s most liveable city, was the most popular for international buyers with two per cent of all auction buyers making the move. It was also the most popular city for local buyers to move around at 94.5 per cent but there was a serious lack of interstate migration to Victoria’s capital.

Meanwhile, the Gold Coast is showing no signs of giving up its crown as the most popular region for interstate buyers. A massive 23 per cent of all Ray White auction buyers in the last 90 days came from another state - far above the national average.