Property market still quiet

Auction clearances were up slightly on the weekend of the 6-7 Dec, but still well down on the same weekend last year.

In Melbourne, 48% of 697 properties sold under the hammer, just 1% better than the previous weekend and considerably lower than the 78% recorded the same weekend last year. In Sydney, the clearance rate picked up 4% from the previous week to 46%, but remained 13.8% don from the same weekend in 2007. In Brisbane, only 35 homes were put up for auction, for a clearance rate of 23% and 10 of 25 homes put up for auction sold in Adelaide.

With the Christmas and New Year holiday period just around the corner, activity is now expected to remain weak until February 2009.