By Duane Kaak, Research Analyst, CoreLogic
The combined capitals saw 1,961 homes taken to auction this week, returning a preliminary auction clearance rate of 70.2%, from the 1,481 results collected. Despite a 13.1% week-on-week increase in the number of dwellings taken to auction the preliminary clearance rate reduced by only 50 basis points compared to last week’s result of 70.7%. Although auction activity has been increasing for the past three weeks, which is counter to the typical seasonal trend through winter, the number of homes taken to auction is expected to decrease for the first week of August. This time last year, 1,913 dwellings were auctioned across the capital cities, and a final clearance rate of 54.0% was recorded.
Melbourne had the bulk of the auctions this week, continuing an unseasonal increase in volume, up 24.4% from last week, with 846 homes going under the hammer. From the 668 results collected, Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate of 69.9% is 1.9 percentage points higher than last week’s preliminary result of 68.0%. Last week saw 681 homes go under the hammer, returning a final clearance rate of 64.6%. Over the same week last year, 809 auctions were held across Melbourne and a clearance rate of 56.6% was recorded.
Sydney hosted 760 auctions this week, a 9.4% increase from last week’s number of 695. The preliminary result, from 573 outcomes collected, was 72.4%, down -1.8 percentage points from last week’s preliminary result (74.2%). Last week, the final auction clearance rate for Sydney was 67.7% across 695 homes. This time last year 624 homes were taken to auction and a combined clearance rate of 50.0% was achieved, the lowest rate observed in Sydney in the past 12 months.
Across the smaller capitals, Brisbane hosted 174 auctions, nine more homes than last week, and the highest number since the last week of April 2023 (201). The preliminary clearance rate for Brisbane dropped -7.8 percentage points this week to 58.3%. Adelaide recorded the strongest preliminary clearance rate among the capitals at 82.8% with 113 auctions held. Canberra had 53 auctions and recorded a 70.6% success rate. In Perth, 14 auctions were scheduled and two have been recorded as successful, while six were withdrawn. There were no scheduled auctions in Tasmania this week.