By Caitlin Fono, Research Analyst, CoreLogic Australia

There are currently 2,081 capital city homes scheduled for auction this week as we gear up for the race that stops a nation. The previous week saw 3,135 auctions held across the combined capitals, while this time last year, 2,023 homes were taken to auction.

Melbourne is set to host just 483 auctions this week as the city prepares for the Melbourne Cup Carnival which kicks off on Saturday. Last week saw 1,675 auctions held across Melbourne, while this time last year, 468 homes were taken to auction.

There are 1,117 auctions scheduled in Sydney this week, up from 981 last week and 1,059 this time last year. This will be the fourth time Sydney’s weekly auction numbers have risen above 1,000 since the beginning of the spring selling season. The only other time this year that more than 1,000 auctions were held across the city was the week leading up to Easter.

Across the smaller capitals, Adelaide is set to host the most auctions (188), followed by Brisbane (181), Canberra (97) and Perth (15). There are no auctions scheduled in Tasmania this week.

Next week will see auction volumes pick up again, with close to 2,900 homes currently scheduled for auction across the combined capital cities.

Summary of last week’s results

Last week saw 3,135 homes go under the hammer across the combined capitals, the second busiest auction week of the year to date. The previous week saw 2,541 homes taken to auction, while this time last year, 3,381 auctions were held.

The combined capital city clearance rate came in at 59.5% last week, after the previous week recorded the lowest clearance rate so far this year (58.2%). This is the third time the clearance rate has slipped below 60% over the year to date. Over the same week last year, 62.9% of reported auctions were successful.

There were 1,675 auctions in Melbourne last week, the second busiest auction week so far this year. The previous week saw 1,098 homes taken to auction, while this time last year, 1,725 auctions were held across the city. Melbourne’s clearance rate came in at 62.3% last week, after holding below 60% for the past five weeks. Last week’s result is 4.5 percentage points higher than the previous week (57.8%). Over the same week last year, 63.2% of auctions in Melbourne were successful.

There were 981 homes taken to auction across Sydney last week, compared to 974 over the previous week and 1,071 this time last year. Sydney’s final clearance rate dropped to 55.9% last week, the lowest clearance rate the city has seen all year. Last week’s result is -4.7 percentage points lower than the previous week (60.6%) and -8.3 percentage points lower than the same week last year (64.2%). Sydney’s withdrawal rate rose to 16.1% last week, up from 12.6% over the previous week.

Brisbane (197) was the busiest auction market across the smaller capitals last week, followed by Adelaide (181), Canberra (85) and Perth (15). Perth recorded the highest clearance rate at 66.7%, followed by Adelaide (63.0%), Brisbane (53.8%) and Canberra (52.9%). There was just one auction in Tasmania last week, which was unsuccessful.