Australia home sales rise in fledgling sign of property recovery

[SYDNEY] Australian home sales and auction clearance rates climbed, offering hopes of a recovery for a property market that has slumped as interest rates rose this year.

The number of auctions held across the country’s capital cities over the past week increased 1.2 per cent from a week earlier to a total of 1,734, and is set to exceed 2,000 in the next seven days, according to property researcher Cotality.

Sydney accounted for 709 auctions, broadly in line with the prior week, while Melbourne registered a weekly increase of 18.4 per cent to 612 and Adelaide reported 149, the highest reading since March.

Clearance rates rose 4.3 percentage points to 51.5 per cent after falling to a six-year low last week. The latest reading was helped along by an almost 10-percentage-point gain for Melbourne alone, according to Cotality.

The results offer a glimmer of optimism that the country’s property slump, which could be the worst in decades, may be finding a floor as buyers take advantage of lower prices.

Rising interest rates and new tax rules governing property investing unveiled in May have amplified the pullback. Last week, the Reserve Bank of Australia delivered its fifth interest rate increase this year, raising the cash rate 25 basis points to 4.85 per cent – the highest level in 18 years. BLOOMBERG