Clearance rates remain stable despite cooling market conditions
Auction activity is set to fall across Australia’s combined capital cities this week, with 1,461 homes scheduled to go under the hammer.
This marks a drop from 1,794 auctions last week and 1,512 during the same week last year, according to Cotality.
Melbourne is expected to lead in auction volumes with 600 properties listed, a decline from 767 last week and 628 during the same period in 2024. Sydney follows closely, with 594 homes scheduled for auction, down from 685 last week but up from 560 this time last year.
Among the smaller capital cities, Brisbane will host 107 auctions this week, falling from 158 the week prior. Adelaide is set for 86 auctions, down from 102, while Canberra is expecting 62, a slight dip from 69. Perth has 10 homes going to auction, while Tasmania has two.
Caitlin Fono (pictured right), research analyst at Cotality, said auction activity is likely to stay subdued over the coming period. “Auction activity is expected to remain relatively low next week, with around 1,510 homes currently scheduled for auction across the combined capitals,” she said.
A total of 1,794 homes went to auction across the combined capital cities last week, compared with 2,044 the previous week and 1,776 during the same period last year.
The preliminary clearance rate held steady at 67.9%, matching the previous week and marking the highest rate since mid-March 2024 (68%). A year ago, the figure was slightly lower at 66.5%.
Melbourne hosted 767 auctions last week, down from 962 the week prior. The city's clearance rate rose slightly to 68.7%, up from 68.2%, equalling the strongest result since mid-July 2023. In the same week last year, Melbourne reported a clearance rate of 60.9%.
In Sydney, 685 homes were taken to auction last week, down from 771 the previous week. “Sydney’s clearance rate came in at 67.7% last week – the strongest clearance rate the city has seen since late-July 2024,” Fono said. The figure was also a slight improvement from 67.2% the week before, but lower than the 68.5% recorded in the same week last year.
Brisbane was the most active of the smaller capitals, with 158 auctions, followed by Adelaide with 102 and Canberra with 69. Clearance rates in Brisbane and Canberra both lifted to 69.6%, up from 67.4% and 64.2% respectively. Adelaide saw a decline, with 63.7% of auctions clearing, down from 74.4% the week before. In Perth, 36.4% of 11 auctions were successful, while neither of Tasmania’s two auctions resulted in a sale.
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