Capital cities see 2,000 auctions in one week

A total of 2,094 homes were scheduled for auction across the combined capital cities last week (ending 21 February 2021), up from 1,496 the week prior, according to the latest CoreLogic Property Market Indicator Summary.

Of the 1,754 results collected so far, 84.4 per cent had a successful outcome – lower than the previous week’s preliminary auction clearance rate of 86.1 per cent, which was later revised down to 77.1 per cent.

Over the same period last year, CoreLogic recorded 2,517 auctions, with a clearance rate of 72.7 per cent.

Across the capital cities, Canberra recorded the highest clearance rate at 92.4 per cent out of 79 auctions. Sydney followed with 88.2 per cent out of 769 auctions, then Adelaide with 85.4 per cent out of 73 auctions.

Melbourne had the highest number of homes taken to auction at 1,061, which recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 82.2 per cent. This was lower than the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 87.8 per cent, which was later revised down to 70.6 per cent.

“The large revision... was partly due to a spike in withdrawn auctions while the city was in lockdown, with 25.3 per cent of reported auctions returning a withdrawn result,” CoreLogic noted.

“So far this week, just 6.4 per cent of reported auction results were withdrawn across the city,” the report noted.

Meanwhile, Brisbane and Adelaide had 91 and 21 auctions scheduled, returning preliminary clearance rates of 79.4 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively.

Average time on market for houses was shortest in Hobart at 27 days, followed by Sydney (37), Adelaide (42), Melbourne (44), Canberra (53) and Perth (58). Darwin had the longest time on market at 60 days. 

For units, Hobart also recorded the lowest number at 22 days, while Brisbane was the highest at 71 days, followed by Sydney (64), Melbourne and Perth (57), Canberra (56) and Adelaide (53).

Looking ahead, CoreLogic expects larger auction volumes next week, reaching 2,500 homes across the combined capital cities.

Home values

Over the week, CoreLogic recorded a 0.5 per cent increase in home values, with Sydney and Melbourne leading the charge at 0.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.

Perth followed with a 0.4 per cent increase, then Brisbane with 0.3 per cent and Adelaide with 0.1 per cent.

In the past month, Perth emerged as the winner with a 2.0 per cent increase, followed by Sydney (1.9 per cent), Melbourne (1.3 per cent), Brisbane (1.2 per cent) and Adelaide (0.6 per cent).

In terms of year-to-date changes, Perth remained in the lead with a 2.8 per cent increase in home values, followed by Sydney with 2.0 per cent and Brisbane with 1.9 per cent. Melbourne and Adelaide recorded 1.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent increase, respectively.

As of date, Sydney remains the most expensive city to buy a house and a unit, with a median price of $850,000 and $650,000, respectively. 

On the other hand, Perth stood as the most affordable city for house buyers, with a median price of $490,000, while Darwin is the most affordable for unit buyers, with a median price of $271,500.

[Related: Clearance rates continue to rise]