Aussie property listings are being discounted on a mass scale because of COVID-19

PHOTO: Melbourne saw the worst of the downturns.

Property prices for houses up for auction across Australia were dramatically slashed during April as agents rushed to clear stock during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New analysis by Domain’s Senior Research Analyst Dr Nicola Powell reveals in markets like Sydney, the proportion of live listings which had their prices discounted has almost doubled compared to the same period last year.

In April 2019, when nobody had heard of coronavirus, 6.7 per cent of live listings had their prices discounted.

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In April 2020, with a ban on on-site auctions and social distancing, that figure almost doubled to 13.1 per cent of live listings.

The steep decrease was even worse in Melbourne, which registered 10.7 per cent of live listings discounted compared to just 3.7 per cent 12 months ago.

Adelaide had the third highest proportion of discounted properties at 8.3 per cent, more than double the rate last year.