BUYERS are back at auctions across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
Newcastle auctioneer Gavan Reynolds from Reynolds Auctions led two strong auctions in Jewells and Hamilton on the weekend which both drew 10 registered bidders.
Mavis Property Co's listing of a four-bedroom home at 15 Darymplye Street in Jewells drew 10 hopeful buyers who kicked the auction off with an opening bid of $1.1 million.
The property sold under the hammer for $1.355 million.
In Hamilton, LaneCampos Property's auction of a three-bedroom home at 11 Gulliver Street also drew 10 registered bidders.
The bidding opened at $865,000 and the property sold for $967,000.
Mr Reynolds said there had been an increase in the number of buyers at auctions across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in recent weeks.
Registered bidder numbers in the region averaged 3.4 over the past three months, according to Mr Reynolds.
By comparison, auctions in the region averaged 0.9 registered bidders in February and March this year.
"For context, in February 2020 we were averaging nine registrations per auction," Mr Reynolds said.
"Somewhere around 2.2 to 2.4 registered bidders is the norm if you look at the average over a five year period, so to be almost five times with nine or 10 registrations is not insignificant.
"I think there is a bit of urgency from buyers to get in before the end of the year but I also think that the buyers are probably more comfortable in the stability of values.
"It has certainly been very positive over the last few weeks."
There were 24 auctions scheduled across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in the week ending November 5.
According to CoreLogic's preliminary results, the region's auctions recorded a clearance rate of 64.7 per cent, down from 73.1 per cent the previous week.
Mr Reynolds added that while clearance rates were a helpful indicator, buyer numbers were the best way to measure property market performance.
"In my opinion, the best barometer for the market is actually the number of registrations per auction," he said.
"Because some of the results are not reported, you're not getting a true read on what is actually happening out there in the market if you use the clearance rate as the be all and end all in terms of market performance."
Bidder numbers have steadily increased in recent weeks as stock levels start to rise.
Listing numbers across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie up around 10 per cent from June and around 11 per cent from the same time a year ago, according to CoreLogic.
Mr Reynolds anticipated that stock levels would continue to rise as sellers aim to list their property ahead of Christmas.
"We are set to have the biggest November in terms of booked auctions since the inception of the business in 2009," he said.
"Year to date, we are down just under 30 per cent in terms of the auction volumes year on year.
"I think one thing that is one thing worth observing is the market conditions and by all reports there has been very, very good buyer activity out there.
"The stock levels are up, no question about it, but there is still an expectation based on the sentiment that's out there that there is going to be quite a bit more stock come into the market in that early to mid January."
Other auction results last week included Simon Wall Property's listing of a three-bedroom villa positioned 200 metres from Merewether Beach at 1/26 Berner Street in Merewether.
Listed with a guide of $890,000, the auction drew five registered bidders who started with an opening bid of $850,000.
The property sold for $1,006,0000.
Mavis Property Co's listing of a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 58 Roe Street in Mayfield had four registered bidders and the property sold for $795,000.
In Belmont, Ray White East Lake Macquarie's auction of a three-bedroom home at 1 Andra Close started with an opening bid of $710,000 and sold for $750,000.
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