Auction activity was significantly lower across the combined capitals

Auction activity was significantly lower across the combined capitals this week with 1,393 homes taken to auction as the majority of states celebrate the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, similar to this time last year when 1,413 auctions were held.

Of the 1,116 results collected so far, 58.5% were successful. The previous week returned a preliminary clearance rate of 62.3%, with the final clearance rate revising down to 58.2%. The final clearance rate has held below 60% for the last two weeks and this week will likely be no different when the remaining results are collected. It is the lowest clearance rate for the year to date for most of the capital cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, reflecting more challenging selling conditions for vendors. We will see these conditions tested further next week as auction volumes rebound to around 2,600 across the combined capitals.

In Melbourne, just 446 homes were taken to auction this week, down from 1,245 over the previous week, although up from this time last year when 355 auctions were held across the city. Of the 366 results collected so far, 57.4% have been successful, down from the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 61.2%, which revised down to 58.8% at final figures. Over the same week last year, 68.8% of auctions were successful.

There were 552 auctions held across Sydney this week, compared to 912 over the previous week and 745 this time last year. Of the 465 results collected so far, 58.1% were successful, down from the previous week’s preliminary clearance rate of 59.0%, which revised down to 53.3% at final figures, the lowest final clearance rate Sydney has seen since April 2020.

Across the smaller capitals, Adelaide recorded the highest preliminary auction clearance rate (78.7%), followed by Canberra (59.%) and Brisbane (48.0%). Brisbane was the busiest auction market this week with 161 homes taken to auction across the city, followed by Adelaide (145), Canberra (68) and Perth (21). There were no auctions held in Tasmania this week.

Note for editors: The above results are preliminary, with ‘final’ auction clearance rates published each Thursday. CoreLogic, on average, collects 99% of auction results each week. Clearance rates are calculated across properties that have been taken to auction over the past week.