First-home buyers propped up Sydney spring auction season: APM
There was a distinct first-home buyers’ rush to the head over the spring months at Sydney auctions, according to data provided by Australian Property Monitors.
The auction success rate for auction offerings priced under the first-home buyer threshold of $600,000 improved while the clearance rate for offerings over $600,000 deteriorated.
"There was a spike in clearance rates at the entry level prices as a result of the state government's stamp duty announcement at the beginning of September," says Clint McNabb, research analyst at Australian Property Monitors.
"The state budget decision to cut the full stamp duty exemption on established homes by first-home buyers from January 2012 provided a small boost at the lower end of the market.
"But it has particularly benefited those vendors with offerings price from $500,000 to $600,000, at which the current exemption cuts out," he says.
Source: APM
He notes the middle of the Sydney market proved most resilient over the past year, and the government decision "provided a little extra boost which is evident in the clearance rate."
The clearance rate at the upper end of the market had fallen slightly, McNabb notes.
In spring 2010 auction clearances rates weakened across the board earlier in the year.
