Ray White Now | 20 July 2020 Vol. 10 | Page 5

Auction activity over the past week was further evidence of this, with bidders across the country flocking to auctions, both on-site and online. On the back of a steep rise in auction numbers compared to last year, we recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 59 per cent which was in line with last year. On average, 4.7 bidders registered for every auction which was also well up on prior years.In fact last week, 90 per cent of our auctions experienced active bidding. This is the best result in all of 2020 and far above long term averages. The real estate activity in Melbourne over the past week, while it was experiencing the re-implementation of restrictions, proved again that there is no obstacle insurmountable to Australian buyers. During the first COVID-19 lockdown period, we saw a resilient market with high buyer demand, however there was a significant withdrawal of stock as vendors decided to postpone the sale of their properties. In this second lockdown period, there has been far less property withdrawn and much more property on the market, yet the Victorian capital recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 61.8 per cent and a whopping 5.1 registered bidders on average per auction. In fact, one auction attracted 40 registered bidders in Preston, which is unheard of in normal times, let alone in the middle of winter. Overall, our Australian stock levels are now higher than where they were last year, and are starting to approach the higher levels of July 2018. We are experiencing a well balanced and highly active market, given the strength of buyers as discussed above, though there are risks in the market ahead of us as we detail on the following pages. We continue to ask all our customers that are considering selling: “Why would you wait?” Auctions with no bidding activity 30% 27.42% 24.83% 25% 22.35% 20% 20.28% 19.64% 20% 18.91% 19.28% 20.44% 16.62% 15% 13.76% 13.55% 10% 22.22% 22.61% 17.53% 17.95% 17.05% 15.46% 15.38% 14.75% 13.72% 11.76% 11.65% 10.93% 20% 9.32% 5% 0% 13 Jan 2020 27 Jan 2020 10 Feb 2020 24 Feb 2020 9 Mar 2020 23 Mar 2020 6 Apr 020 20 Apr 2020 4 May 2020 18 May 2020 1 Jun 2020 15 Jun 2020 29 Jun 2020 20 Jan 2020 3 Feb 2020 17 Feb 2020 2 Mar 2020 16 Mar 2020 30 Mar 2020 13 Apr 2020 27 Apr 2020 11 May 2020 25 May 2020 8 Jun 2020 22 Jun 2020 6 Jul 2020 13 Jul Auctions with No Bidding Activity 5