AFL final puts brakes on Melbourne auctions

The latest data from property research group CoreLogic revealed over 700 fewer homes were taken to auction in the week ending 29 September compared to the previous week, which the group attributed to a drop in activity in Melbourne as the state paused amidst the AFL grand final hype.

The number of auctions across the combined capital cities were down to 1,262 homes compared with 1,983 auctions held at final results the week prior.

Melbourne saw a sizeable drop in volumes with only 103 homes taken to auction, down from the previous week's 1,020 homes.

The lower volumes returned a preliminary auction clearance rate of 82.5 per cent, which was higher than the previous final clearance rate of 75.6 per cent. Last year’s clearance rate of the same week stood at 57.7 per cent (70 auctions).   

Despite the lower activity across Australia, the combined preliminary clearance rate came in at 74.4 per cent, up from 70.7 per cent for the week ending 22 September.

Over the same week last year, 895 homes were taken to auction returning a much lower clearance rate of 45.8 per cent.

While activity slowed across Melbourne, the Sydney auction market bounced ahead, recording the busiest week for auctions since November last year, with 939 homes taken to market.

The preliminary auction clearance rate maintained strength across the higher volumes, standing at 77.7 per cent.

This was higher than the previous week's 72.7 per cent final clearance rate which saw 646 auctions taking place.

At the same time last year, 608 Sydney homes were auctioned with a much lower rate of 43.8 per cent sold.

Related: Auction volumes, clearances on the rise

Malavika Santhebennur is the features editor on the mortgages titles at Momentum Media.

Before joining the team in 2019, Malavika held roles with Money Management and Benchmark Media. She has been writing about financial services for the past six years.