Multiple public holidays have a notable impact on auction volumes
Auction activity in capital cities experienced a significant decline of 40.4% last week, with a total of 2,015 homes being auctioned across the capitals, according to new data from CoreLogic.
The drop in activity was primarily driven by a decrease in auctions in Melbourne, making it the quietest auction week for the city since the beginning of October. During that period, multiple public holidays had a notable impact on auction volumes, resulting in only 1,198 homes being auctioned.
In contrast, the previous week saw Melbourne's busiest auction week in over 18 months, with 3,381 homes going under the hammer, CoreLogic reported.
Despite the decline in auction volumes, the preliminary clearance rate for the combined capitals remained relatively steady at 68.6%, a slight increase of 10 basis points from the previous week's revised rate of 68.5% (previously reported as 62.9%). It is worth noting that although the clearance rate remained stable, there was a shift in confidence among sellers and buyers. The withdrawal rate for properties rose to 12.4% from the previous week's 8.1%, indicating a decrease in seller confidence. On the other hand, the portion of properties passed in at auction decreased to 19.0%, suggesting an increase in buyer confidence.
Comparing the current auction market to the same period last year, when market conditions were weaker, there has been a notable improvement. Last year, only 1,917 homes were auctioned, resulting in a clearance rate of just 5%.
Melbourne saw a significant decline in auction activity, with a staggering drop of 73.7% last week. Many vendors chose not to compete with the start of the Melbourne Cup festivities, resulting in only 453 auctions taking place. The previous week, however, marked Melbourne's busiest auction week since mid-April 2022, with 1,725 homes going under the hammer. In comparison to the same period last year, when 797 homes were auctioned, the difference is evident. The preliminary clearance rate for Melbourne also fell to its lowest point since Easter, with only 60.8% of auctions returning a successful result.
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Sydney hosted the majority of last week's auctions, with a total of 1,065 homes being auctioned. Although auction activity remained relatively steady, Sydney's preliminary clearance rate increased by 1.1 percentage points, with 71.9% of the 842 results collected so far reporting a successful result. The previous week's preliminary clearance rate was revised from 70.8% to 64.2% at final numbers. This time last year, Sydney hosted 704 auctions, with a final clearance rate of 63.7%.
Smaller capitals
Among the smaller capitals, Adelaide had the busiest auction market, recording the city's busiest auction week of the year so far. A total of 181 homes were auctioned, and despite a decline of 10.3 percentage points in the preliminary clearance rate, Adelaide had the highest success rate across the capitals, at 74.8%.
In contrast, both Brisbane and Canberra experienced a decrease in auction numbers, with 150 and 144 homes being auctioned, respectively. The preliminary clearance rates for Brisbane and Canberra rose to 68.6% and 67.7%, respectively. In Perth, only eight auctions have reported results so far, with three returning a successful outcome. None of the four auctions held in Tasmania last week resulted in a positive outcome.
Looking ahead, auction activity is expected to increase through the final month of spring, with approximately 2,800 homes currently scheduled for auction across the combined capitals this week.
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