An election and AFL grand final won’t stop the property market: Spring selling starts with a bang

The property market is in for an unusually hectic month with a federal election and football grand final effectively wiping out too whole weekends – but the spring selling season is still off to a roaring start.

Over the weekend, Melbourne recorded a clearance rate of 75% from 658 auctions, while Sydney cleared 84% from 398 reported listings, according to Australian Property Monitors.

While September usually hails the start of the spring selling season, this year brings two obstacles: this week’s federal election and the AFL Grand Final, set for September 28.

Two whole weekends are completely wiped out, which according to SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher, could see a surge in October.

“It’s going to be a very busy October,” he says. “There will be a surge of listings after the election, as we’ve seen over the past few weeks a holding off of vendors not listing.

“They’re waiting for the election, and we’ve seen pretty good evidence of that.”

Even a disruption of one weekend during the season can be upsetting. Three years ago, the market was given a shot of confusion after the Grand Final resulted in a draw – rescheduled for the following Saturday.

With the market steadily recovering, sellers will want the best possible chance of a good price – which means they may wait until October.

“It’s going to be very busy,” says Christopher.

However, the property market has been left out in the cold regarding the election. While in the post-financial crisis market the government was eager to provide support for housing construction, there has been no such support this year.

Christopher says the mood is “very quiet”, and subsequently, disappointing.

“There’s nothing on property at all this election,” he says. “There used to be quite a lot of talk, but this year it’s practically nothing.

“It’s very disappointing.”