I’ve written before about how clearance rates can be misleading, but ostensibly Team Fetter/Sciola are at 100% clearance from our first 10 auctions of 2022. A clean sweep!
That is to say, we have sold 10 out of 10 properties at or before Auction.
The market must be flying, right?
Well, yes, 10 out of 10 ain’t bad. But let’s dig a little deeper…
One sold with four bidders for $90,000 above reserve (7%).
One sold with three bidders for $125,000 above reserve (7%).
One sold with three bidders for $90,000 above reserve (4%).
One sold with two bidders for $50,000 above reserve (3%).
One sold with three bidders for $50,000 above reserve (2%).
One sold before auction at the top end of the range.
One sold before auction at the bottom end of the range.
One passed in with two bidders and then sold at the top end of the range.
One passed in with two bidders and then sold just above the top end of the range.
One was postponed two weeks due to lack of interest then passed in with one bidder and sold for $50,000 below the bottom end of the original range.
This does not include another property that was converted to private sale before the Auction due to lack of interest, and another property that was an Expressions of Interest campaign but did not receive any offers upon closing and is now a private sale.
So out of our 10 vendors who have sold so far this year, half of them were very happy with the price (sold with multiple bidders above reserve).
Two were happy to have sold before Auction in the range, but in an ideal world would have sold for more at Auction.
Three were happy to have sold after passing in but were (somewhat) disappointed with the price.
Two others have not been able to sell yet.
So while 100% clearance is a terrific outcome, and shows the current strength of the market, not all properties are selling under stiff competition.
Compare this to October 2021 when we sold a record 30 properties in one month, 28 of which sold at Auction above reserve with two or more bidders.
Such extreme demand and fierce competition is simply unheard of and may never be repeated again, at least in my career.
There is no doubt that today’s market is not as strong as it was in October. But that was a once in a generation market.
Yet to have an average of 2.5 bidders per Auction so far this year is very positive. This is still a strong market.
We only need to reflect on the challenging market of 2018/2019, when at one point I passed in eight properties in a row on a vendor bid and we were averaging around 40% clearance, to see that selling conditions are still very good right now.
And because none of us can predict the future, as Forrest said, “that’s all I have to say about that.”
David Sciola 