Auction volumes down, home values spike: CoreLogic

Auctions data from CoreLogic for the week ending 16 May revealed that there were 2,892 homes taken to auction across the combined capital cities last week, with a preliminary clearance rate of 79.0 per cent.

In the previous week, there were 3,016 homes taken to auction, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 78.6 per cent, which revised down to 77.2 per cent at final figures.

This time last year during the coronavirus pandemic restrictions on on-site auctions and property inspections, there were 417 homes taken to auction nationally, with a final clearance rate of 60.4 per cent.

In Melbourne, there were 1,330 homes taken to auction last week, compared with 1,411 over the previous week and 127 this time last year.

Last week, Melbourne recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 77.6 per cent, up from the previous week’s 76.5 per cent preliminary success rate, which revised down to 74.1 per cent at final figures.

According to CoreLogic, Sydney’s final clearance rate has held above 80.0 per cent for 13 of the past 14 weeks, with this trend expected to continue once final figures are collected.

In Sydney, there were 1,149 homes taken to auction last week, compared with 1,146 homes over the previous week and 194 this time last year.

CoreLogic’s analysis showed that Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 81.6 per cent, compared with the previous week’s 82.6 per cent, which revised down to 81.4 per cent at final figures.

Across the smaller capital cities, Canberra recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 87.8 per cent across 85 auctions, while Adelaide recorded a preliminary success rate of 78.5 per cent across 132 auctions, Brisbane registered a preliminary clearance rate of 73.3 per cent across 169 auctions, and Perth recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 60.0 per cent across 24 auctions.

Home values spike over the year

CoreLogic’s Daily Home Value Index showed that values increased by 8.8 per cent year-to-date across the combined five capitals (excluding Hobart and Darwin), and 7.5 per cent in the past 12 months.

Values registered a 0.6 per cent rise in the past week alone, and a 2.0 per cent monthly rise, the index revealed.

Meanwhile, the number of new properties listed for sale has jumped by 107.2 per cent across the combined capitals, with Melbourne’s new listings surging by 127.4 per cent, while Perth saw a 151.0 per cent increase in its new listings.

However, the number of total listings dropped by 6.1 per cent over the past 12 months, due to the impacts of the COVID-19-related restrictions imposed last year, according to CoreLogic.

On the other hand, the number of total listings in Melbourne grew by 14.4 per cent over this period.

National housing finance activity grew by 4.2 per cent month-on-month, with activity rising in Tasmania (11.4 per cent), South Australia (9.2 per cent), NSW (7.7 per cent), Victoria (4.2 per cent), and Western Australia (0.1 per cent), but falling in Queensland (down 0.8 per cent).

[Related: Auction market sees second-busiest week in 2021]

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.