Canberra clearance rates strong during first week of online auctions

Attending live auctions may no longer be allowed but that hasn’t slowed down house sales across Canberra, with auction clearance rates higher than the national average after the first week of online auctions.

Ray White Canberra held seven online auctions during the week, with five selling under the hammer, and an additional two pre-auction sales took place. While the national average of auction clearance rates for Ray White Group was 60% during the first week of online auctions, Ray White Canberra had a 77.7% clearance rate.

"We had an average of three registered bidders per auction, with on average 90 people watching each live stream,” said Alec Brown, lead auctioneer for Ray White Canberra.

“From those auctions we had two suburb records fall - $947,500 in Page, $823,000 in Holt."

Ray White Canberra’s auctions are streamed online, with bidders registering online and bidding over the phone while they watch the live stream.

Ben Faulks from Ray White Canberra said he believed buyers are still embracing online auctions due to the lack of quality detached housing available in the market.

“The pent up demand in terms of finance pre-approvals won’t just disappear given the banks' desire to lend. We have also worked hard to remove any friction from the process so it’s a smooth process,” he said.

“We are taking extreme steps to hold the ‘virtual’ hands of buyers and sellers as they transition online. Ultimately it’s about building trust, which is a good agent's core competency.”