School holidays and the festive season saw auctions screech to a halt, but property experts are forecasting a bumper February season which will test market health. 
 
Universal Buyers Agents property expert Darren Piper said there was an unusually slow festive season of selling in Brisbane before Christmas. 
 
“Given the typical auction campaign lasts four weeks, agents are often hesitant to list a property before Australia day before they are clear of the festive buzz,” Mr Piper said. 
 
“February’s final Saturday is therefore likely to be one of the biggest auction days of the year and a real barometer of where the market is headed.
 
“It was a slow end to the year for auctions so it will be a good time to see how healthy the market is.” 
 
Auction clearance rates fell to a dismal 17 per cent in the week to January 14, 2019.
 
It followed a slow December run which saw clearance rates fall to just 33.3 per cent in the week before Christmas, compared to 52.5 per cent the previous year. 
 
“Most sellers will baulk at listing their property over the school holidays when they are busy with other demands,” he said. 
 
“So it is normal to see a slump. 
 
“But this was a little more than expected so it will be really interesting to see what shape the property market is come February and will give us good insight for what to expect for the year. 
 
“Brisbane has typically outperformed Sydney and Melbourne in terms of property opportunities in 2018, I expect to continue to see that trend this year as well. 
 
“What will be interesting to see is how exactly it will stack up compared to our interstate counterparts. 
 
“We’ve already seen a lot of buyers flock to Brisbane to take advantage of the lower prices that may well be reflected in auction results in February or we could see a real shift in buyer demands this year.”

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