Melbourne lockdown pounds auction volumes

CoreLogic data has shown that in Melbourne, there were only 189 homes scheduled for auction during the week ending 16 August.

This was down from 294 over the previous week and 588 auctions held in the city this time last year.

According to the CoreLogic Property Market Indicator Summary for the week ending 16 August, the number of auctions held across Melbourne was averaging around 530 each week before the new restrictions were imposed.

Of the 151 results collected so far, 63.6 per cent were successful, while 29.1 per cent were withdrawn.

However, the city has posted comparatively better clearance rates compared with the previous lockdown phase, when clearance rates fell below 30.0 per cent and withdrawal rates approached 65.0 per cent.

In comparison, Melbourne posted a preliminary clearance rate of 63.6 per cent during the week ending 16 August, and a final clearance rate of 63.7 per cent during the week prior, while 23.3 per cent were recorded as withdrawn during the previous week.

One year ago, Melbourne recorded a clearance rate of 76.2 per cent.

Melbourne also registered a 40.8 per cent drop in the number of new listings over the past 12 months, listing 3,526 new properties.

Nationally, a total of 1,042 homes were scheduled to go under the hammer during the week ending 16 August, down from 1,150 over the previous week and 1,228 this time last year.

Preliminary results have shown that of the 810 results collected so far, 64.3 per cent have recorded a successful result, down slightly from the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 65.9 per cent, which revised down to 58.4 per cent on final numbers.

This time last year, the combined capital cities recorded a final clearance rate of 73.0 per cent.

In Sydney, a total of 688 homes were scheduled for auction last week, the highest number of auctions over a week since the first week of April, and up from 640 over the previous week and 446 this time last year.

The city’s preliminary clearance rate stood at 67.8 per cent last week, slightly higher than the previous week’s 65.8 per cent, which later revised down to 58.8 per cent.

This time last year, the final clearance rate across the city stood at 76.2 per cent.

Canberra recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate out of the capital cities of 75.9 per cent across a low volume of 42 auctions.

Brisbane held 68 auctions and recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 37.8 per cent, while Adelaide recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 60.0 per cent across 56 auctions.

Perth held only 18 auctions, with a preliminary clearance rate of 30.0 per cent.

Home values

Across the combined five capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, home values dropped by 0.7 per cent over the past 28 days.

Melbourne led the decline, with home values dropping by 1.1 per cent over the month, while Sydney registered a 0.7 per cent drop.

Both Brisbane and Perth recorded a 0.4 per cent drop in home values, while Adelaide gained 0.2 per cent in value, the only city to record growth.

Housing finance

Nationally, the demand for housing finance fell, with the index value registering a drop of 1.1 per cent month-on-month to 112.4.

Queensland recorded the steepest drop of 2.7 per cent to 104.4, while NSW declined by 1.3 per cent to 149.6, and Victoria dropped 1.0 per cent to 116.4.

South Australia posted a gain of 2.5 per cent to 99.9, while Tasmania grew by 2.2 per cent to 75.8. Western Australia grew marginally by 0.5 per cent to 94.3.

[Related: Inner-city rental stock unnerved by border closures]

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.