Melbourne and Sydney maintain high auction activity amid slight dip in clearance rates
Auction volumes in Australia’s capital cities are set to remain stable this week, with 2,159 homes scheduled to go under the hammer – a marginal decrease of 1.4% from the 2,190 auctions held last week.
This figure is slightly above the 2,112 auctions reported during the same period last year, according to property data firm Cotality.
Melbourne is expected to see 1,030 auctions this week, marking the second consecutive week with volumes above 1,000. Last week, 1,082 homes were auctioned in the city, compared to 974 at this time last year.
Sydney’s auction market is also holding firm, with 797 homes scheduled for auction – a 1.6% decrease from the 810 auctions last week. In the corresponding week last year, 776 homes went to auction in Sydney.
Among the smaller capitals, auction numbers are generally rising week-on-week, except in Tasmania. Brisbane is set for 144 auctions, a 17.1% increase from last week’s 123. Adelaide will see 106 auctions, up from 103, which, if all proceed, would represent the city’s busiest week in three months. Canberra’s auction volume has risen to 69 from 63, while Perth has 12 auctions scheduled, up from seven. Tasmania will host just one auction, down from two last week.
Looking ahead, auction activity is expected to increase, with approximately 2,420 homes across the capitals scheduled for auction next week.
Last week, 2,190 homes were auctioned across the combined capitals, a 6% rise from the previous week’s 2,066, but 5.4% lower than the 2,315 auctions held during the same week last year.
The combined capital cities’ final clearance rate edged down after three weeks of gains, reaching 69.3%. This was 0.7 percentage points below the previous week’s 70%, but 4.9 percentage points higher than the 64.4% recorded a year ago. Despite the decrease, last week’s clearance rate was the fourth highest for the year.
Melbourne recorded its busiest auction week in over three months, with 1,082 auctions held. The city’s clearance rate fell to 67.1%, the lowest in four weeks and 3.8 percentage points down from the previous week’s 70.9%. A year ago, Melbourne’s clearance rate stood at 62.9%.
Sydney saw 810 homes taken to auction last week, up from 729 the week before but down from 874 a year earlier. The city’s clearance rate reached 73.7%, the highest since mid-February last year, and marked the fifth consecutive week above 70.0%. The previous week’s clearance rate was 71.6%, while the same week last year saw a rate of 65.3%.
Brisbane led the smaller capitals with 123 auctions, followed by Adelaide with 103 and Canberra with 63. Adelaide achieved its strongest clearance rate in nine weeks at 73.8%, up from 69.4% the previous week. Canberra’s clearance rate improved to 65.1% from 59.5%. In Brisbane, 60.2% of auctions were successful, down from 62.5% the week before. Perth hosted seven auctions, with four resulting in a sale, while both auctions in Tasmania were passed in.
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