Clearance rates at highest level since May

No fewer than 1,799 Australian capital city homes went under the hammer the week ending October 9 — up 11.2 per cent and 36.7 per cent from consecutive weeks prior, Corelogic analysis revealed.

Its latest Property Market Indicator Summary (10 October) also showed the combined capitals recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate since late May.

Commenting on the result, Corelogic economist, Kaytlin Ezzy, explained: “After being impacted by multiple public holidays over the past few weeks, auction activity was on the rise this week across the combined capitals.”

About “1,799 capital city homes went under the hammer this week, up 11.2 per cent from the 1,618 auctions held last week, and 36.7 per cent above the 1,316 homes auctioned the week prior.

“With 1,441 results collected so far, the combined capitals' preliminary clearance rate held above 60 per cent for the sixth consecutive week at 63.4 per cent, the highest level since late May (63.7 per cent).

“Despite the upwards trend in the volume of auctions, this week’s auction activity is significantly below the number of auctions held this time last year (2,708) when selling conditions were stronger and clearance rates were higher (80.2 per cent),” she stated.

State-by-state – Melbourne highest since May

According to Corelogic, Melbourne hosted the busiest week with 721 homes across the city taken to auction.

The previous week saw 833 auctions held across Melbourne while a combination of the Queen’s memorial public holiday and the AFL grand final saw the number of auctions plummet to just 130 the week prior.

Notably, this time last year, 1,351 homes went under the hammer, Corelogic confirmed.

Of the 619 auction results collected thus far, Melbourne recorded its highest preliminary clearance rate since early May (68.4 per cent), with 66.1 per cent of auctions returning a successful result.

The previous week recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 64.3 per cent, while 77.3 per cent of auctions held this time last year were successful.

90 basis points up for Sydney

Sydney hosted 686 auctions this week, up 41.7 per cent from last week when the Labour Day long weekend saw just 484 homes auctioned.

With 545 results collected thus far, Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate rose 90 basis points, from 60.4 per cent last week to 61.3 per cent this week — Sydney’s highest preliminary clearance rate since mid-August (63.4 per cent).

Despite the rise in the preliminary clearance rate, Sydney’s withdrawal rate rose from 17.0 per cent last week, to 21.1 per cent this week, while the portion of properties passed in at auction fell to its lowest rate since early March (17.2 per cent) to 17.6 per cent, Corelogic explained. This time last year, 81.7 per cent of the 825 auctions held across Sydney were successful, it outlined.

Across the board rises — nearly

Compared to the previous week, auction activity rose across Canberra (+86.9 per cent), Adelaide (+44.0 per cent) and Brisbane (+5.1 per cent) — but fell across Perth (-47.4 per cent). Adelaide had 144 auctions, Brisbane (124) and Canberra (114).

Canberra’s preliminary clearance rate rose above 70 per cent for the first time since early June (71.1 per cent), with 70.9 per cent of auctions reporting a successful result, while Adelaide’s and Brisbane’s preliminary clearance rate came in at 69.7 per cent and 49.4 per cent, respectively.

In Perth, 10 homes went to auction this week; so far, only one has returned a successful result, Corelogic highlighted.

No auctions were held in Tasmania this week, it confirmed.

It should be noted that these results are preliminary, with Corelogic publishing ‘final’ auction clearance rates each Thursday.

On average, Corelogic collects 99 per cent of auction results each week, with clearance rates calculated across properties that have been taken to auction over the past week, it explained.

[Related: House price falls steady]