Nearly 42,000 new listings
The property market saw a notable rise in auction activity last week, with major cities hosting the highest number of auctions since March. A total of 2,387 homes went under the hammer, marking a 13% increase from the previous week and ranking as the fifth busiest auction week of the year.
Auction volumes are set to rise further, with around 2,800 scheduled for the coming week. However, activity is likely to dip afterward due to the AFL Grand Final long weekend.
Despite the higher auction numbers, CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy (pictured) noted the preliminary auction clearance rate fell below 70% for the first time in six weeks, coming in at 69.4%. This is down from the previous week’s rate of 71.7%, which was later revised to 63.2%.
Melbourne led in auction numbers, with 1,114 homes up for sale—its highest count since Easter—but the clearance rate dropped 2.6 percentage points to 68.5% from the previous week.
Sydney followed with 864 auctions, an 11.3% rise from the prior week, but the clearance rate also dipped to 70.6%. Brisbane recorded 172 auctions with a clearance rate of 64.3%, while Adelaide posted the strongest performance with 82.2% of its 153 auctions clearing successfully.
Meanwhile, the ACT saw 65 auctions with a 52.5% clearance rate.
In addition to auction results, CoreLogic noted an uptick in new property listings. Over the past four weeks, nearly 42,000 properties were advertised for sale—5.8% higher than the same period last year and 16.5% above the five-year average.
“The rise in advertised stock levels is great news for buyers, but sellers will need to be aware of the heightened competition, with advertised supply levels likely to rise further through spring and early summer,” Ezzy said.
Final auction clearance rates, which tend to be lower than preliminary figures, will be published later in the week as additional results are confirmed.
