Behind the headlines: What's really going on in property?

Anne, let's kick us off with the bigger headline that I've seen, auction clearance rates and how they're much lower than this time last year.

Look, that headline is really loud, but can you actually put some numbers behind that for us?

When we say that the auction clearance rate hasn't been particularly high, that is certainly the case.

We've seen clearance rates sitting below 50% for around three months now.

Now, while that does sound very dramatic, it's important to remember that the vast majority of those homes that do go to auction, they do still sell subsequent to the auction.

It might be after the auction or it might be a few weeks after.

We do see more homes not selling after auction compared to, say, a year ago, but it's still certainly the minority.

I think the main thing that auction clearance rates tell us is really that there's still a bit of a mismatch between what vendors are hoping to get and buyers are willing to pay.

Mm.

And until that realigns, we often see the clearance rate hold lower.

And I think something that's also really important to mention behind this headline, so many properties in Australia sell by private treaty and not by auction at all.

Absolutely, and especially depending on the state that you're in, we don't really see that many auctions outside of Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra in most other markets.

And even within those capital cities, we actually do see a very high percentage sell by a private treaty, for example.

Okay, so what this headline says to me is that buyers and sellers kind of need to start meeting in the middle and potentially adjust expectations on both sides, but it certainly doesn't mean that no one's buying.