It appears Canberra home owners are in hibernation, with fewer than 100 properties set to go under the hammer this week.
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For the week ending Sunday, CoreLogic data shows 95 Canberra homes are planned to go to auction, a 4 per cent decrease on last week's activity.
Canberra is the only capital expecting auction volumes to fall this week, with CoreLogic's weekly auction preview noting Canberrans are in "deep winter mode".
Of the 99 auctions conducted in the ACT last week, 61.2 per cent sold under the hammer.
But the slowdown in auction activity is in line with traditional seasonal trends and is fairly consistent with auction volumes seen last year.
For the week ending July 25 last year, Canberra recorded 92 auctions, while the following week (ending August 1, 2021) there were 119 auctions.
For what's considered a slower time for auction activity, Sharon Schnyder of LJ Hooker Belconnen has a busy weekend ahead. She has four auctions scheduled across Canberra on Saturday.
Ms Schnyder is expecting registered bidders at each of them but said the market has seen a shift in recent months.
"Gone are the days, even three months ago, when you'd have 22 registered bidders ... those days won't come back for a long time," she said.
One of the properties slated for auction is 5 Chuculba Crescent, Giralang: a three-bedroom house on a 894-square-metre block.
It's the first time in more than 50 years the property has been listed for sale and will go to auction with price expectations between $800,000 and $900,000.
Real Estate Institute of the ACT CEO Michelle Tynan said Canberra's property market is returning to regular seasonal cycles.
"There are still lots of buyers out there but because we do have that rise in numbers in the actual stock supply, it is allowing us to have more choices as purchasers," she said.
Ms Tynan said despite a drop in auction clearance rates in recent months, properties are selling quickly post-auction.
When will we see more listings on the market?
Seasonal trends also influence the volume of homes up for sale.
Based on pre-COVID averages, the volume of new national listings has previously fallen by an average 9.2 per cent between autumn and winter before surging 18.9 per cent between winter and spring.
The fluctuation in listings are even more prominent in the ACT, where new property listings surge by an average of 40 per cent between winter and spring.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said it's likely advertised supply levels will rise substantially through the final quarter of 2022 and into 2023.
"Higher levels of advertised supply implies more choice for buyers but also more competition for vendors," he said.
Mr Lawless said more supply ultimately means further downward pressure on housing values and higher rates of seller discounting.
"We can already see this scenario playing out in lower clearance rates, higher time on market and larger rates of vendor discounting, although there is a significant level of variability from region to region depending on the balance between buyers and sellers," he said.
Which ACT regions are seeing a shift?
Despite the seasonal slump, total listing volumes are trending higher compared to last year, giving buyers stronger negotiating power at auctions and in private treaty sales.
North Canberra has recorded the biggest increase in listing volumes compared with last year, with inventory levels up 14.1 per cent in June.
Listings in this part of the ACT are also up 15.3 per cent on pre-COVID levels, CoreLogic data shows.
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Listings in Woden Valley were 5.3 per cent higher than last year and 20 per cent higher than pre-COVID numbers.
Of the Canberra regions, Tuggeranong recorded the biggest increase in listings compared to its pre-COVID supply levels.
There were 512 listings in June, up 49.7 per cent on pre-COVID averages, but down 18.6 per cent on last year.
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