Auction volumes subdued amid long weekend

Property research group CoreLogic’s auctions summary for the week ending 13 June has revealed that there were 1,426 homes taken to auction across the combined capital cities last week, down from the 1,636 auctions predicted earlier.

According to CoreLogic, the downwards revision was largely driven by Melbourne, which emerged from lockdown just prior to last week, although several restrictions were still in place.

Furthermore, it noted that the lower volumes were expected last week as the majority of states and territories had a long weekend for the Queen’s Birthday public holiday on Monday (14 June).

The national preliminary clearance rate stood at 77.4 per cent, compared with 73.5 per cent over the previous week, which revised down to a final clearance rate of 70.6 per cent.

Amid confirmation of the end of the Melbourne lockdown recently, 365 auctions were held across the city, revising down from the 519 originally scheduled.

CoreLogic recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 73 per cent in Melbourne, up from 67.3 per cent the previous week (which revised down to 64.0 per cent at final figures).

Of the 307 results collected so far by CoreLogic, 18.2 per cent were reported as withdrawn, compared with 31 per cent over the previous week.

There were 1,081 auctions held in Victoria’s capital over the previous week, while 471 homes went under the hammer this time last year, according to CoreLogic.

Sydney’s final auction clearance rates have held above 75 per cent all year, and this trend has been predicted to continue by CoreLogic, but it noted that clearance rates have softened since late March when the auction clearance rate peaked at 87.6 per cent.

In Sydney, there were 749 homes taken to auction with a preliminary clearance rate of 78.5 per cent last week.

Over the previous week, there were 1,164 homes taken to auction in Sydney, with a preliminary clearance rate of 79.6 per cent, which later revised down to 75.6 per cent, while there were 545 auctions held this time last year, the data showed.

Across the smaller capital cities, Adelaide recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 86 per cent across 88 auctions, while Canberra’s preliminary clearance rate came in at 82.5 per cent across 73 auctions, Brisbane recorded a 75.5 per cent preliminary clearance rate across 130 auctions, and Perth recorded a 70 per cent preliminary clearance rate across only 21 auctions, CoreLogic reported.

The number of new property listings across the combined capital cities lifted by 36.8 per cent over the past 12 months, with Darwin’s new listings surging by 171.1 per cent from a lower base. However, total listings have dipped by 11.1 per cent, which the property research group attributed to the impacts of the COVID-19-related restrictions imposed in 2020, including bans on onsite auctions and property inspections.

Housing finance activity has declined across Australia, with the national month-on-month mortgage market activity plunging by 9.1 per cent, driven by a 15.8 per cent fall in Western Australia, a 12.8 per cent fall in NSW, and an 11.2 per cent fall in Victoria.

Mortgage market activity also fell in Tasmania (down 2.5 per cent), South Australia (down 2.4 per cent) and Queensland (down 1.8 per cent), CoreLogic data showed.

[Related: Melbourne lockdown dents auction volumes]

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.