Home loan activity leaps 15%

Mortgage activity has picked up nationally and in every state after falling significantly earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to CoreLogic figures.

CoreLogic Property Market Indicator Summary for the week ended 29 November revealed that mortgage activity has jumped nationally by 15 per cent month-on-month.

The figure has followed the significant decline in demand for housing finance in May when mortgage activity had plummeted by 16.5 per cent at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis and its related economic ramifications in Australia.

Victoria is leading the charge in the increase in mortgage activity among the states, recording a 28.9 per cent month-on-month increase.

Home loan activity also increased in all other states, rising by 11.1 per cent in Tasmania, 10.8 per cent in NSW, 10.7 per cent in South Australia, 10.1 per cent in Queensland, and 8.9 per cent for Western Australia.

Melbourne races ahead in auction volumes

As Victoria records the highest jump in mortgages activity among the states, Melbourne was the busiest capital city for auctions last week, according to data.

CoreLogic’s auctions data for the week ended 29 November revealed that Melbourne played host to 894 auctions this week, more than any other capital city across Australia, including Sydney.

Of the 756 results collected so far, 71.7 per cent were successful, down from the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 77.1 per cent, which revised down to 70.0 per cent at final figures.

There were 646 auctions held across Melbourne in the previous week, while this time last year a higher 1,533 auctions were held. One year ago, 74.8 per cent of reported auctions were successful.

Nationally, there were 2,155 homes scheduled for auction across the combined capital cities last week, up from 1,803 over the previous week.

Of the 1,763 results collected so far, 73.9 per cent have reported a successful result, slightly higher than the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 73.6 per cent, which revised down to 69.1 per cent at final figures.

Over the same week last year, 3,206 homes were taken to auction and 73.6 per cent of reported results were successful.

In Sydney, 887 homes went under the hammer last week, compared with 805 homes over the previous week and 1,221 this time last year.

The preliminary clearance rate sat at 76.9 per cent last week, an increase from the previous week’s 76.2 per cent, which revised down to 71.6 per cent at final figures.

This time last year, 78.1 per cent of reported auctions were successful.

The number of new property listings in Melbourne over the 28 days ending 29 November was 8,033, a rise of 3.6 per cent over 12 months, while in Sydney there was a 1.3 per cent increase with a total of 6,641 new listings.

Across the small cities, Canberra recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate of 78.4 per cent from a total of 117 auctions and 97 results collected so far, while Adelaide held 108 auctions and recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 75.0 per cent out of the 68 results collected so far.

Brisbane, which held 127 auctions, recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 63.5 per cent out of the 85 results collected so far, while Perth held only 18 auctions and recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 75.0 per cent out of the eight results collected so far.

[Related: Auction volumes hit 6-month high]

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.