APM: Sydney property market "hot"

From Australian Property Monitors:

"Another set of extraordinary results for Sydney’s hotter than hot home auction market was recorded at the weekend. The auction clearance rate of 80.8 percent was the third consecutive weekend of clearance rates above 80 percent. Auction clearance rates continue to track at levels not recorded for over ten years at this time of the year.

With auction clearance rates at their highest levels for years it’s no surprise that Sydney house prices are also growing at their fastest rates for years. The Sydney median house price increased by 2.7 percent over the June quarter which was the fastest rate of quarterly growth recorded since March 2010 during the previous house price boom.

With Sydney houses prices having increased by 6.7 percent over the 2013 financial year it’s also no surprise given almost historically low interest rates for both borrowers and depositors that investors are flooding into the Sydney housing market at record levels.

The best regional result in Sydney this weekend was recorded in the north west with an outstanding auction clearance rate of 93 percent. Another strong result was recorded by the consistently popular inner west region which despite providing clearly the highest number of auction listings at the weekend recorded an auction clearance rate of 90 percent.

With weekend auction clearance rates showing no signs of slowing down expect house prices to continue to surge with real the prospect that before years end, the median prices for Sydney houses to exceed $700,000 and the median price for Sydney units to exceed $500,000."

Most economists, 22 of 28 surveyed by Bloomberg, expect interest rates to be dropped again in August.

With auction clearance rates already at sky high levels in Sydney, the predictions of a slow decline in Sydney's housing market look to have been very wrong. 

While some new supply has hit the market in recent years, the population is growing at such a rate that the desirable stock is quickly absorbed, and Sydney properties have become among the fastest-selling in Australia.