Auction volumes recover from Easter lull

Figures from property research group CoreLogic has shown that for the week ending 18 April, a total of 2,448 homes were taken to auction, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 80.5 per cent.

Over the previous week, a lower 2,199 auctions were held, with a preliminary success rate of 79.4 per cent, which was later revised down to 76.8 per cent by final collection.

In Melbourne, 1,204 homes went under the hammer last week, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 78.1 per cent. This was higher than the previous week’s preliminary figure of 77.2 per cent, later revising down to 72.5 per cent across 1,059 auctions.

Sydney held 913 auctions over last week, with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.8 per cent. Last week, there were 821 auctions held with a preliminary clearance rate of 82.8 per cent, later revised down to 814 per cent at final figures.

Looking back at auctions figures one year ago when the government-imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus (including a ban on onsite auctions and physical home inspections) were still impeding activity, only 30 per cent of the 1,922 homes placed for auction sold.

In Melbourne, only 27.9 per cent of the 1,016 homes taken to auction were sold this time last year, while in Sydney, only 33.3 per cent of the 735 auctions that took place sold across the city.

Across the smaller capital cities last week, there were 112 auctions held in Canberra, with a preliminary success rate of 87.4 per cent.

Adelaide returned a preliminary success rate of 82.8 per cent across 81 auctions, while Brisbane’s preliminary success rate stood 72.7 per cent across 104 auctions, and Perth recorded a 50.0 per cent preliminary clearance rate across 30 auctions.

Home values register spike

The CoreLogic data also revealed that there was a 6.7 per cent surge in home values year-to-date across the combined five capitals (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth), and a 5.2 per cent 12-month rise.

Based on the CoreLogic Daily Home Value Index, the data also showed that values rose by 0.5 per cent over the week alone, while registering a monthly rise of 1.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of total property listings have registered a 12.6 per cent drop over the past 12 months across all the combined capital cities (including Canberra and Darwin), while new listings surged by 62.5 per cent.

Total listings plummeted across all capital cities except Melbourne, where listings rose by 8.4 per cent over the past 12 months.

Housing finance demand rose marginally nationally, with mortgage market activity increasing by 0.6 per cent month-on-month, the figures showed.

While Victoria registered a 15.7 per cent jump in activity and Western Australia recorded a 3.0 per cent increase, activity dropped by 10.3 per cent in Tasmania, 7.5 per cent in NSW, 2.7 per cent in Queensland, and 0.2 per cent in South Australia.

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.