By Kaytlin Ezzy, Economist, CoreLogic Australia

Capital city auction activity is set to rise 7.5% this week, with 3,186 homes currently scheduled for auction. With each of the capital cities expecting a rise in auction numbers, this week is slated to be the combined capital’s second busiest of the year, behind only the week ending 29th October (3,381). This time last year, auction numbers were -14.7% lower, with just 2,717 homes auctioned.

Sydney is expecting a 6.3% rise in auction numbers this week, with 1,149 homes set to go under the hammer. This week is set to narrowly beat out the final week of Spring (1,142) as the city’s busiest of the year. The previous week saw 1,081 homes auctioned, while this week last year, 964 auctions were held across the city.

Melbourne is set to host its second busiest week of the year, behind only the week ending 29th October (1,725), with 1,462 auctions currently scheduled. Up 6.3% from last week (1,375), this week’s auction activity is 19.2% higher than the numbers seen this time last year, when 1,226 homes went under the hammer.

Across the smaller capitals, Brisbane is set to host the busiest auction week, with 220 auctions scheduled across the city, up 22.9% week-on-week. This is followed by Adelaide (194), up 2.1%, with this week set to overtake last week (190) as the busiest week of the year. Auction numbers across Canberra (140) are slated to rise 17.6% this week, while Perth is expecting 21 homes to go under the hammer, up from 17 last week. There are currently no auctions scheduled to occur in Tasmania this week.

Auction activity is set to ease slightly next week in the anticipation of festive season slowdown.

Summary of last week’s results

With 2,963 homes auctioned across the capitals, last week narrowly overtook the week prior (2,949) as the combined capitals third busiest auction week of the year. Continuing the downwards trend seen over the previous three weeks, the combined capital’s clearance rate dropped a further 10 basis points, from 60.8% the week prior to 60.7% last week – the capital’s lowest of the year so far. The further dip in the clearance rate was driven by vendors, with the withdrawal rate rising to 11.2% (up 80 basis points) while the portion of properties passed in at auction fell to 28.0% (down -70 basis points). Following a weaker spring selling season, the first week of summer last year saw 57.8% of the 2,537 auctions held across the combined capitals recorded a successful result. 

Auction activity across Melbourne rebounded 5.0% last week, with 1,375 homes auctioned across the city. The previous week saw 1,309 homes auctioned, while this time last year, 1,158 auctions were held. Despite rising 70 basis points from the week prior (57.7%), Melbourne’s final clearance rate held below the 60% mark for the second consecutive week, with 58.4% of auctions reporting a successful result. This time last year, 58.6% of auctions held across Melbourne were successful. 

After hosting the busiest auction week of the year the week prior (1,142), auction numbers across Sydney fell -5.3% last week, with 1,081 homes taken under the hammer. With 62.5% of auctions recording a successful result, Sydney recorded the lowest final clearance rate since late January (62.3%). This was accompanied by the city’s highest withdrawal rate of the year at 15.7%, while the potion of properties passed in at auction also inched higher to 21.7%. The previous week’s clearance rate was 1.4 percentage points higher at 63.9%, while this time last year, 891 homes were taken to auction across the city, and a final clearance rate of 59.0% was reported.

Adelaide hosted its busiest auction week of the year last week, with 190 homes auctioned across the city, up 21.8% week-on-week. Despite recording its lowest clearance rate since early August (70.5%), at 71.1%, Adelaide was the only capital to record a clearance rate in the 70’s. Brisbane recorded the second highest clearance rate among the capitals, with 64.2% of the 179 homes auction recording a successful result, while Canberra’s auction market was more sluggish, with 119 auctions and a final clearance rate of 52.9%. In Perth, seven of the 17 auctions held last week reported successful results, while neither of the two auctions held in Tasmania were successful.